CAUSES

There is no simple answer to the question, ‘what causes depression?’ as there are many different theories and for each individual the combination of factors that lead to depression is unique. However, most people would agree that social, psychological and physical factors all play a part.

Although it sometimes feels like it has come out of the blue, depression can generally be linked to a deterioration in mental health as a result of a long term stressor or a stressful life event. These are often referred to as ‘triggers’.

Some of the more common triggers are:

• Bereavement
• Employment problems
• Illness
• Social Isolation
• Debt
• Unmet needs
• Relationship problems
• Disability
• Childbirth

The likelihood of whether people become depressed following a triggering event will depend on the psychological, social and environmental factors and events that they have been exposed to in the past, the beliefs they hold and how they think, feel and react. If we react to or deal with triggering events in unhealthy ways then we are much more likely to develop depression. Some research has suggested that there may also be genes that increase the likelihood of people becoming depressed.

People with depression are often told that it is a result of a ‘chemical imbalance’. This could be a very unhelpful myth about depression. There may be chemical changes in the brain when we are depressed and medication that acts on particular chemicals does seem to help some people.  However, we do not truly understand the relationship between depression and brain chemistry as the way the brain works is so complicated and little understood. Talking about depression in these terms may be unhelpful because it implies we have a better understanding than we do; fails to address the fact that there must be a reason why chemicals would become imbalanced in the first place; and can discourage people from taking responsibility for their own health.

Whatever the cause of your depression, please remember it is treatable.