Depression is a type of mood disorder marked by emotional, physiological and cognitive symptoms. These may include sadness, sleep disturbance, feelings of worthlessness and irritability.
Depression is more common than most people think with 40 million suffers in the US alone.The average onset of depression is in the early 20's.
Depression isn't something that a person can just snap out of. In most cases it needs to be treated by a professional.
So what causes depression? Well...depression is complex..there is no one trigger. However, research has identified factors that seem to increase the chance of developing depression. These include stressful life events such as past abuse. This can lead to a faulty way of processing the world around us (known as negative automatic thoughts). Depression has also been linked to differences in brain structures such as reduced size of the hippocampus. It has also been suggested may be somewhat genetic. Some models suggest that it is the interaction of a number of these factors that result in the onset of depression.
The good news is that depression is treatable. Some of these treatments include medication that blocks re-uptake of serotonin to increase levels in the body. There are also therapies such as CBT which have strong evidence behind them. A good place to start may be speaking to your GP about how you are feeling. You can then go on to find the treatment that is best for you.
If you are going to take away anything from this post please let it be that depression exists, it isn't something to be ashamed of or to hide. It is a common disorder that can be fixed if you reach out and ask for the help.
