From The Inside Out- Causes Of Depression

One misunderstanding about the causes of depression is that they are all “in a person’s mind.” The far more accurate way to describe causes of depression is to say they are in a person’s brain. Depression is not merely a really bad case of the blues; it is an emotional state related to physical changes in the brain’s chemistry.


One of the proven causes of depression is an imbalance in the concentrating of brain chemicals, or neurotransmitters, which are responsible for letting your brain cells communicate with each other and with your nervous system.


Other physical causes of depression can include a person’s genetic makeup; there are families who have at least one depressed person in every generation. Those who are suffering from serious illnesses like cancer or heart trouble and are in a weakened condition may become depressed both because of their situations and because the stress they are under can further weaken their defenses against infection.
Another cause of depression in sick people may be the very medications they are using to fight their diseases; calcium channel blockers which are often prescribed to lower blood pressure have been known to cause depression.


A Negative Outlook


Those who are pessimistic about life or who have poor self-images may be providing their own causes of depression; someone who always expects the worst to happen or feels as if he or she has no control over life has a greater chance of becoming depressed than those who are proactive in managing their lives.
There is, in fact, a condition called dysthymia, which is a mild long-term form of depression and gives its sufferers an overall lack of energy and negative attitude towards life, although it never puts them completely out of commission.


Anger And Stress


Bottled-up anger is another of the more common causes of depression; people who have trouble asserting themselves to those with whom they are unhappy often turn their anger inward. The stresses arising from major life changes like losing a loved one, beginning or losing a job, financial trouble, or illness can also be causes of depression.