There's no single cause of depression. It can occur for a variety of reasons and it has many different triggers. For some people, an upsetting or stressful life event, such as bereavement, divorce, illness, redundancy and job or money worries, can be the cause. Different causes can often combine to trigger depression.
Research suggests that depression doesn't spring from simply having too much or too little of certain brain chemicals. Rather, there are many possible causes of depression, including faulty mood regulation by the brain, genetic vulnerability, and stressful life events.
There is no cure for depression, but many different treatments are available to manage the symptoms. The symptoms of depression vary among individuals. A treatment plan that includes medical interventions, support, and lifestyle changes can enable a person to live a normal and full life with the condition.
Research by the National Institutes of Health shows that you lose gray matter volume (GMV) when you suffer from depression. This loss is caused by parts of your brain shrinking due to the hormone cortisol impeding the growth of your brain cells. The more serious depression a person suffers, the more GMV they lose.
That is the case for major depression. Heritability is probably 40-50%, and might be higher for severe depression. This could mean that in most cases of depression, around 50% of the cause is genetic, and around 50% is unrelated to genes (psychological or physical factors).
Divorce, separation, and the threat of either often result in both conflict and depression, and serious marital problems and divorce are two of the strongest predictors of depression. Conflict with other family members is also predictive of depression, although not to the extent of marital problems.
While it is true that low levels of neurotransmitters like serotonin or norepinephrine can play a role in depression for some people, this is only one piece of a much larger puzzle. In fact, the chemical imbalance theory has not been proven as the main cause of depression in over 50 years of research.
Depression results from a complex interaction of social, psychological, and biological factors. People who have gone through adverse life events (unemployment, bereavement, traumatic events) are more likely to develop depression.
Depression is a disorder of the brain. It is a serious mental illness that is more than just a feeling of being "down in the dumps" or "blue" for a few days. For more than 20 million people in the United States who have depression, the feelings persist and can interfere with everyday life.
People with clinical depression often have increased levels of monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A), an enzyme that breaks down key neurotransmitters, resulting in very low levels of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine.
The Great Depression was the worst economic crisis in modern history, lasting from 1929 until the beginning of World War II in 1939. The causes of the Great Depression included slowing consumer demand, mounting consumer debt, decreased industrial production and the rapid and reckless expansion of the U.S. stock market.
Researchers have known for years that women are about twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression as men, with depression being the leading cause of disease burden among women.
Experiencing trauma early in life and having certain genes can put you at higher risk for depression. But there are actions that can help protect against depression, such as eating a healthy diet and getting enough sleep and physical activity.
Medications and psychotherapy are effective for most people with depression. Your primary care doctor or psychiatrist can prescribe medications to relieve symptoms. However, many people with depression also benefit from seeing a psychiatrist, psychologist or other mental health professional.
Rather, a behavioral psychologist uses principles of learning theory to explain human behavior. According to behavioral theory, dysfunctional or unhelpful behavior such as depression is learned. Because depression is learned, behavioral psychologists suggest that it can also be unlearned.
Although depression can affect the structure and functions of your brain, these changes aren't necessarily brain damage per se, and they can be reversed by treating depression symptoms.
The brain is a highly adaptable organ, and most individuals can expect their brain chemistry to return to its normal state over time after stopping antidepressants.
The main subcortical limbic brain regions implicated in depression are the amygdala, hippocampus, and the dorsomedial thalamus. Both structural and functional abnormalities in these areas have been found in depression.