Panache

Depression affects 1 in 10 people worldwide, but its causes are often complex and varied. While symptoms may resemble hormonal imbalances, depression can stem from genetic factors, life stress, trauma, and environmental influences.

Understanding these 10 main causes of depression is key to recognizing triggers and seeking effective treatment. This guide helps you explore the root causes behind depression to improve mental health and wellness.

Childhood Trauma

Childhood trauma is one of the most complicated and yet prominent factors of depression. When you are a kid, you barely know how the world works. It is difficult for you to categorize certain experiences as to whether they will affect you positively or negatively.

It was much later that you realized that certain childhood experiences made you scared of certain things and worried about others. Now, you know that your perception of certain elements in the world is not the same as other people.

The problem arises when it dramatically stops you from living your life. Not only that, it affects your relationship-building abilities as well as your perception of yourself. The results of such an experience can be so complicated that you barely realize it is one of the factors of depression.

Intergenerational Trauma.

What your family has gone through affects you as well. Whether you were born at the time or not. That is why immigrants see their surroundings and their families differently from natives. And if those experiences have been emotionally or mentally harmful in any capacity. There are chances that they will affect you.

Most people do not understand why their family is the way it is. And yet, ancestral experiences affect family dynamics and the family’s belief system. A child or any generation who may not be aware of these patterns can still be affected by them.

That makes intergenerational trauma one of the big factors that causes depression. If therapists find it hard to see any cause in your current life for depression, they may ask about your family dynamics, as that could be a factor.

Also Read: 10 glaring signs you have intergenerational trauma.

Burnout.

Even though the productivity race is on the rise, that does not make humans a productivity machine. No matter how much your external stressors may ask you to be productive, you may only be as productive as your heart, mind, and soul allow.

According to a documentary on Chinese workers working 9 to 6 6 days a week, burnout has become a common problem. Some confessed to feeling empty and numb. And these are not only the symptoms of burnout but also the initial symptoms of depression.

Burnout is another major reason why depression is so prominent in current society. The constant race of producing more, being more, learning more, and chasing more targets has led to burnout. Most people don’t realize why they feel this way until it’s too late.

Also Read: You can be following your passion and still be burnt out. Want to know how?

A number of stressors in life and their effect on you.

How many traumatic incidents have you sat through in life? According to an article published in Psychology Today, if someone experienced the death of their mother very early in life, he has a high chances of experiencing depression, if they lose their wife in some accident as well.

Life’s situations majorly affect how prone you are to depression. However, that is not the only factor. It also depends on your resilience versus your vulnerability. If you can, by any means, sit through major life tragedies, and they do not affect you in any significant capacity, there are chances that you can escape depression as well.

Therefore, both the factors, what life throws at you and how you handle it, affect whether you can be depressed or not. Or if you are going to need any clinical assistance for the same, or not. That is why depression varies so much among the current population.

Also Read: How to manage stress?

Genetic or neurochemical factors, including medications.

People whose family members or ancestors had depression are more likely to have depression sometime in their lives. This pattern makes it a genetic disease. Depression can be passed through and appear dominant if passed through genes among family members.

Other neurochemical factors like the Serotonin system and the Dopamine System also affect the chances of whether someone can get depressed or not. Hence, neurochemical factors are also responsible for depression.

Similarly, the menstrual cycle and postpartum depression are also major causes for causing depression. It comes under the umbrella of hormones. The sudden rise or fall of certain hormones can cause depression or similar effects. And clinical help is always available in these cases.

Unable to manage negative emotions.

How good are you at managing your negative emotions? First, understand what negative emotions are. Humans are emotionally complicated beings. And go through a whole range of emotions throughout the day. Some of them can be negative. These are the ones that make you feel low, and down, or that you will never feel good again.

The cause of these emotions can be external stimuli, factors, or means. If that is the case, it depends on how you are going to manage that. Are you emotionally healthy enough and capable of managing them feasibly? Or will it weigh heavily on you?

Your own capability of managing your negative emotions also determines whether you are going to experience depression in life or not.

Also Read: How to become stronger than your emotions?

Overwhelmed by problems.

Everyone experiences a time in their lives when they see no way out. They feel a swarm of problems and are drowning in it. It is not the most pleasant feeling in the world.

As mentioned above, it matters how you are going to deal with every curveball life throws at you. But these problems can be so overwhelming at times that you may feel suffocation going through the dark tunnel of difficult situations.

This can be a big reason for how someone not only gets depressed but also becomes prone to depression.

Low self-esteem.

What happens when you feel the whole world has been rejecting you? There is no place for you on this planet. And every human you have ever met has either made fun of you or outright despised you. Many people feel this way.

These people generally either do not have the confidence or have low self-esteem. They think they are not good enough for anything. This one thought that gets planted in someone’s head leads to negative overthinking, which finally leads to depression.

Many people underestimate this cause, considering everything might seem fine in their lives. But if these people are not happy with themselves and their lives, there is are high chance that they will be prone to depression.

Environmental Factors

As soon as winter hits, the winter gloom starts to set in. It feels like the sun takes a vacation during those days, and Jack Frost starts playing its tricks. Lack of sun makes many people lethargic and lazy.

You may not want to come out of bed or even look outside. However, this experience over a prolonged period may cause depression. You might have heard about SAD, i.e., Seasonal Affective Disorder. This disorder happens due to environmental factors.

But that is not all. Other environmental factors like toxic culture, type of people, surroundings, etc, can be other factors that can induce depression.

Circadian Rhythm Disruption or Insomnia.

People talk about jet lag in a casual way, but that can affect your circadian rhythm in a major way. Circadian Rhythm is your body’s internal clock that follows a roughly 24-hour cycle, influencing when you feel awake, sleep, eat, feel energetic, etc. It is mainly influenced by light and darkness in the environment.

Any disturbance in the circadian rhythm can affect other hormones as well. This may affect your bodily functions, thus affecting your mental and emotional well-being.  Therefore, Circadian Rhythm Disruption can be one of the big causes of Depression.

Similarly, lack of sleep, disturbance of sleep, or not being able to take the required sleep will also disrupt your bodily functions, thus making you prone to depression.

Conclusion

Depression may sound like any other mental ailment, but it is not. It requires proper diagnosis and clinical treatment. Only then can you understand the root cause of it and be able to contribute to the active treatment of yourself.

Understanding the reason behind your depression is necessary. And a therapist can help you with that. With some family support and therapeutic assistance, you can also feel better and defeat depression.