Causes of Depression

There are a number of factors that can result in a period of depression. Some sufferers may only ever be effected on one occasion, while others may have it reoccur throughout their life.

A life event, like a bereavement or a very stressful experience may cause depression. You should know however that it will certainly only effect some and is not inevitable.

Depression is a change in your brain chemistry and this can sometimes be triggered by hormone changes, therefore pregnancy, childbirth, menstruation or the menopause MAY cause depression, but again it is random and does not effect everybody as a matter of course.

There may be some family history of depression. If so, then there is a greater chance that you will be effected by depression at some time in your life.

In order to ensure longer periods of feeling well, it is important to establish if there are any major factors influencing your low mood and try to remove them. Obviously if for example you suffer a bout of depression following a bereavement it is easy to work out why your mood has been so low. It is perfectly normal to feel desperately upset under the circumstances. If however your mood does not start to lift and your sadness starts to effect every aspect of your life, you should seek medical advice. It may be that you will need some help to get through this difficult time.

If however you feel that the overriding factor is stress relating to a job you really dislike or because you are miserable in your marriage, it is unlikely that you will have a complete recovery until you have removed these influences from the equation. I am not saying that you must all divorce your partners or leave your jobs, but you may want to start looking for alternative work or seek counselling for your marriage in order to improve your chances of long term recovery.

It is very important that you do not jump to conclusions. You should be starting to feel better before you make any major life changing decisions.