You wake up each day, yet you don’t feel ready to take on the daily challenges.
Instead, you are trapped within the jaws of depression.
It’s strange, you don’t know why or how you got this way. Yet, the feelings associated with depression—hopelessness, fear, and lack of motivation—are relentlessly crushing you day-in and day-out.
It turns out, there are many different shades of sorrow. Scientists have actually discovered that there are very specific reasons for why people feel depressed. Educating ourselves about these causes can help us to better identify why we personally are depressed.
Only then can we actually get the help we need to properly treat the condition and to get our lives back.
Chemicals and Hormones
Depression is often due to an imbalance of certain chemicals in the brain. These chemicals are neurotransmitters which are crucial for regulating our mood.
They include:
- Serotonin
- Acetylcholine
- Glutamate
- GABA
- Norepinephrine
Furthermore, hormones also play a role in why we feel depressed. These hormones have an effect on both men and women. However, women are two times more likely to have depression, as opposed to men. They also can have rates of postpartum depression between 11-20%.
Our Genes
Our genetic makeup can also play a role in why we feel depressed. In fact, a strong indicator as to whether we may develop depression in our lifetime is whether or not a relative also had depression.
This is important to know if you have been struggling with depression. So, ask yourself if you had any relatives, in particular, first-degree relatives, that had depression. Remember that it may not be that obvious, as often mental health conditions are not always discussed by those who suffer from them.
Sugar Consumption
Interestingly, research is finding that the amount of sugar we consume has an influence as to whether we develop depression.
In one study the results showed that men whose diet included 67 or more grams of sugar had a 23% greater chance of having depression. This is as compared to men who had 40 grams or less of sugar in their diets and a far lower risk factor.
Lack of Sufficient Sleep
Do you get enough sleep at night? You should make sure you do because sleep problems have been known to affect depression.
If a person already has depression, not getting quality sleep will make it worse. Identifying the issue may help us to do what we can to change our sleep habits so that we can get a better, more restful sleep each night.
External Factors
There are many external factors that we experience throughout our lives which can explain why we feel depressed.
For example:
- Chronic stress: This causes cortisol levels to rise in the brain, which negatively impacts neurotransmitters.
- Drug/alcohol abuse: Going through withdrawal from these substances may trigger depression.
- Location: We can experience depression just from where we choose to live. On average, people in cities are at greater danger for depression than those who live in the country.
- Social media: Social media can hurt how we perceive ourselves and can damage our confidence.
Losing Our Sense of Purpose
Certainly, it has been well recorded that people who have lost their purpose in life or feel that their lives have little to no meaning often suffer from depression.
There are many reasons why we may lose that sense of purpose. Losing a job, especially one that defines who we are, is one example. Another can be the loss of a child or partner. When our lives have no meaning, it is very hard to not feel depressed.
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Obviously, there are many reasons as to why we feel depressed. If any of the above causes resonate with you, don’t lose hope. Instead of getting down on yourself, allow compassion to come in. It’s good to know that your depression has an actual cause. Now, with the plenty of help and support, you can address that cause so that you can treat your depression.
Please, click on the link if you’d like to know more about depression treatment.
