What Causes Depression? Treat Causes, Not Symptoms!
Find what causes depression in order to cure depression.
Experts agree that there is a depression epidemic AND that once you have depression, there is a 50% chance you will have it again.(allaboutdepression.com)
That does NOT speak well for "traditional treatments".
That DOES speak loud and clear
to treating what causes depression
...rather than treating symptoms.
Psychology Today notes:
"Depression involves much more than just
“bad” brain chemistry. There is no direct
cause-and-effect between neurotransmitters
in the brain and depression. In fact, life
experiences such as trauma, personality
style, and social factors affect brain
chemistry just as much as brain chemistry
affects life experience."
(helpguide.org/mental/causes_depression.htm)
Can "mind, body, and spirit" help you understand what causes depression? What about feelings?
Perhaps you'd like to do a personal inventory from each area of mind, body, and spirit? This gives you a sense of your unique situation. Sometimes it hits you hard...WOW, no wonder I am depressed!
Include EVERYTHING that's happened to you in your inventory...even if you think you have worked through it, or that it doesn't bother you, or that it doesn’t matter.
What Causes Depression - Mind
Please keep in mind-- ~It is easy to under-estimate the effect of the past.
~Family patterns are surprisingly powerful factors.
~A build up of stress, grief, fear, anger, and other unhealed, unconscious issues are often what causes depression.
~Negative, destructive thought patterns are habitual and invisible.
~One life event, such as a death, can trigger depression.
A family history of depression - it could be genetics and/or environmental influences. Major depression is often genetic, while other forms of depression is often situational (unresolved issues).
Loss or threatened loss of a loved one through divorce, death, or some other kind of separation.
Major life changes such as moving, unemployment, retirement, illness, graduating, changing jobs, getting married, aging.
Emotional stress such as: powerlessness, hopelessness, anxiety, abandonment, unresolved childhood issues, family issues, feeling stuck, negativity, dependence, blaming, or
Physical, sexual, or emotional abuse
Career & financial stress
What Causes Depression - Body
~Physical issues such as brain chemistry, medications, illness, hormones, nutrition, lack of exercise, or toxicity create imbalances that lead to depression.
~It is critical to be tested before adding drugs or supplements to your system.
Substance abuse: close to 30% of people with substance abuse problems also have major depression.
Illnesses that affect the brain — such as Parkinsons' Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, and Alzheimers can be what causes depression through the disease process itself. Depression often occurs in diseases that affect the immune system hormones.
Hormones - "Women are twice as likely as men to experience depression and some researchers believe it is due to hormonal factors. Cortisol, a stress response hormone, has been found to be elevated in some depressed people. It is unclear whether the elevated stress hormones cause or are caused by depression. Hypothyroidism, low levels of thyroid hormone, contributes to depressed mood and fatigue". (helpguide.org/mental/causes_depression.htm)
What Causes Depression - Spirit
~Lack of connection to the divine can lead to depression even in those who are emotionally adept and physically healthy.
Low self worth or self love
Loneliness and isolation – But even people surrounded by family and friends are at risk for depression if those relationships are unsupportive.
Lack of compassion
Needing approval from others
Not reaching for your dreams and potential
What Causes Depression - Feelings
~Believing that how you feel is wrong may be what causes your depression.
Suppressing feelings
Shame about who you are
Feeling unlovable
Not trusting that you can face your feelings and get through ANY thing.
Is "Entrainment" What Causes Depression?
How have you been "trained"?
Positive qualities are just as much part of the ‘human condition’ as depression, pessimism and despair. It can simply be a matter of what you have ‘entrained’ with.
Family personalities, our own personalities, childhood experiences, all "train" us to see ourselves, life, and the world through certain unconscious filters. Obviously, what causes depression in one person does not in another person. Each person "entrains" differently.
So it is safe to say that it isn't the situation so much as how we perceive and respond to it...our history and the meaning we give to the situation.
We all know that the "hard stuff" is what forces us to grow. It is the "getting stuck" that sucks! We all need help with that from time to time.
Depression can be a powerful motivator for change on a deep and permanent soul-inspired level.
Once we understand that it is usually "us" that causes depression, the trick is to find ways to understand and change ourselves--but we MUST be effective at it, we MUST know that we CAN do it.
Perhaps what causes depression, more than anything else, is that we have not learned how to change ourselves in powerful, effective ways.
As you can see, much of what causes depression is "situational" and therefore cannot be addressed by medication. Even if antidepressants are right for you, it is likely there are other, hidden factors that contribute. I hope you will read this information about antidepressants.
Go to Antidepressant Drug News page 1
