5 common causes of depression

HAVE you been feeling down of late and can’t pinpoint the cause? Or perhaps someone you love has fallen into depression, and you want to figure out why? Help and counsel, recovery and a renewed interest in life is possible. According to Paradigm Malibu, a treatment centre in the United States, “Negativity can be difficult to change, but once it’s transformed to focusing on the positive, it can turn a teen’s life around.”

Here are five causes that are often linked to depression.

1. Postpartum depression

Many mothers report feeling blue days or weeks after their new baby has arrived. Along with the intense highs of giving birth, some mothers, but not all, slide into postpartum depression. Postpartum depression lasts longer than simply feeling anxious.

Mayo Clinic suggests that a dramatic decrease in certain hormones may cause postpartum depression. Emotional factors, such as little sleep or feeling overwhelmed, can also cause a new mother to experience depression.

Mayo Clinic staff encourage new mothers to get as much support during this time as possible. As well as getting enough sleep, which can help calm feelings of overwhelm.

2. Teenage depression

Environmental triggers can play a large role in causing a teen to fall into depression. Elements such as social acceptance and fitting in can place stress on a young teen. Sadly, suicide and attempted suicide are common among teens with signs of depression.

3. Traumatic event depression

Experiencing a traumatic event can often trigger depression. For example, abuse, a life-changing injury, or the loss of a loved one can all be considered traumatic events. If an individual finds it difficult to deal with the event, depression often follows. Learning how to cope with a traumatic event requires thinking about one’s life in new ways. And it is a skill that can be learned. Support groups and therapy sessions can help traumatic event sufferers adjust to their new situation.

4. Social media depression

Social media depression sets in when one is overly concerned with how one looks online to the detriment of their emotional stability. There are many ways that being too concerned with social media can affect one’s mental health. For example, the fear of missing out is a common enough occurrence in everyday situations. But it can be exacerbated by seeing friends or acquaintances seemingly always having a great time.

Another aspect that can trigger social media depression is simply too much time spent online, which can lead to addiction. Addictive behaviours can lead to isolation. And the foregoing of previously enjoyed activities and other elements of a healthy life.

5. Insomnia-triggered depression

Depression is more than just an aspect of someone’s personality, or a mood that comes and goes. The American Psychiatric Association calls it a serious and common medical illness that affects up to 6.7% of adults per year. While it is often a result of a chemical imbalance in the brain, you might be wondering what causes this chemical imbalance in the first place.

Many mental health professionals are unsure whether lack of sleep causes depression. Or if depression causes lack of sleep. But the two are closely entwined. WebMD states that people with insomnia are three times more likely to deal with depression than those with normal sleep patterns.

For sufferers of insomnia, treatments are available that can help a person fall asleep more quickly and stay asleep as well. Both medication and cognitive behavioural therapy have been noted to have positive results. And can help reduce depression triggered by insomnia.

Because there is no single cause to depression, depression is often approached with scepticism and comes with a fair share of stigma. But the last thing you should do is ignore your feelings and hope that by doing so the depression will go away.

As with most sicknesses, depression requires treatment and selfcare. Even if you do not go to a doctor, understanding what you are experiencing and what has caused it can help you know where to go from here. – HealthNews Digest.com