If you are struggling with depression, you may be wondering, “why?” The truth is depression is too complex to put our finger on it. Learning the causes of depression would not help you out of depression. But, yet it could help give perspective that depression can happen to the best of us. I came across 3 causes that I found fascinating:

Depression may not be a mind thing :

Last November an article came out that stirred up controversy. I’ll summarize it: Everyone is more miserable when they are ill. Could depression be a symptom of illness? It ends up that when people’s depression is heightened, so is inflammation! The argument is that perhaps a better way to deal with depression is good nutrition over medicine.

Abuse:

It appears that past abuse increases the chances of clinical depression later in life. This makes sense since you could live in a constant state of fight or flight. This prolonged stress would tire you out for other positive areas of your life. John Gottman studied marriage over 40 years. He found that those who are at the receiving end of contempt from their spouse gets ill more often. A tense marriage could also lead to depression. More on couples’ therapy here.

Major Events:

Major events, even the good ones can lead to depression. Got married? Had a child? Graduated? New job? People don’t usually associate those to depression because they are good events. The stress involved in them could push someone into depression.

The list is not exhaustive. Likely, depression is a combination of factors. This includes your inner psychological world, your body, and your environment. This is also why many people look for talk therapy. With someone trained in psychotherapy, you can sort out the many factors and come up with plans. Questions or comments? Fill the form below and I’ll be happy to answer.