What Drives People Into Depressive Mode

December 26th, 2008 Posted in Anxiety and Depression

Let there be no doubt that depression is a serious mental illness that sometimes requires months and years of treatment on the road to a cure. Every year, millions of Americans feel the symptoms of depression. Only about a third of them will seek treatment, and that makes it worse. Many Americans don’t want to be considered crazy, so because depression is considered a mental affliction they avoid diagnosis. They would rather beat depression on their own than risk being stereotyped should they seek assistance. Unlike a headache depression doesn’t eventually stop on its own, and more people suffer from depression than you might think.  

Why do people get depression? There are many factors to consider, so the answer isn’t simple. Depression can be a long story because of many issues. Lets examine some of the most notorious. A chemical imbalance is widely considered to be the main cause for depression.  This may be the case, but what causes that imbalance?  Typically the causes stem from biological, genetic, physical, mental and environmental implications. In many cases the underlying cause is never identified. Many become depressed when they are diagnosed with a very serious medical condition. This is especially the case if the diagnosis presents the possibility of death or impairment.

Another cause of depression can be the emotional pain felt after losing a loved one. In many cases the loss can be very traumatic. Depression often follows sexual or physical abuse, or emotional attacks. In addition, many cases of depression are given birth by substance abuse, rather it be drugs or alcohol. Even a perfectly healthy person, when exposed to the right combination of events and issues, can become afflicted with chronic depression. There can also be a genetic element to depression. Those afflicted have a family history of the disease .  Oddly, many drugs including those that regulate depression or anxiety can cause depression. Studies and tests show a casual relation between many high blood pressure medications and depression.  

A major cause of depression is stress. Stress can derive from many different areas in our life.  Even positive events such as a marriage, a new baby or winning an award can cause stress. The unknown is often the root cause of this stress, whether it be positive or negative. In addition, many are stressed from personal conflicts with their loved ones, associates in employment or friends. There are a great number of people who are stressed from simply trying to perform their jobs to satisfaction and trying to support their families from week to week. Knowing is half the battle as you need to determine the the symptoms of depression.  Seek medical help if you or a loved one suffer from depression.