Causes of Depression

Dear Reader,

Today I would like to discuss major depression. I would like to discuss this topic because I feel like not a lot of people understand much about it. I personally have had people tell me to “suck it up” or “get over it” when in all honesty, it’s hard to get over certain things. Especially if you have depression. I will not go into everything about it, as there will be other blogs after this with more information on them. For today however, I would like to focus on what causes major depression, and the beginning stages.

In a list below, I will state the beginning causes of depression. Before I go any further, I found these causes on the Web MD site. "Causes of Depression." WebMD. N.p., n.d. Web.

• Abuse. Past physical, sexual, and emotional abuse can cause depression later on in your lifetime.
• Conflict. Depression can be caused by conflicts or disputes between family members and friends.
• Death or a loss. The death or loss of a loved one can increase the risk of depression.
• Genetics. As odd as it may seem, you can also gain depression if your family has a history with depression.
• Major events. Who would’ve thought this could cause depression??? It doesn’t matter if it is a good event or not.
• Personal problems. Social isolation, and being cast out by family or a social group can lead to depression.
• Serious illness. Sometimes depression can co-exist with an illness,or it can be a reaction to an illness.
• Substance abuse. Nearly 30% of people with substance abuse problems also have major or clinical depression.

These are just some of the main causes for depression to begin.

How can biology be related to depression?? Well, the hippocampus, a small part of your brain that holds all of your memories appears to be smaller with people who have depression. As opposed to those who don’t have depression. Scientist’s don’t really know why the hippocampus is smaller when it comes to people with depression. Some researches believe that the stress hormone called “cortisol” is produced more often in people with depression. Causing a “shrinking” effect on the hippocampus. Other experts believe that people are born with a smaller hippocampus, which causes them to have depression.

Not to cut this blog short, but in the next blog I will go further into how biology is linked to depression. As well as how genetics is linked with depression. Before I close this off, I would just like to add this. If you have depression, or think you have depression. Please go speak with your doctor, or talk to someone about it. Get the help that you need. Don’t fight this alone. Also, for those of you who do not have depression, or for those of you who do. I really hope this is starting to help some of you understand how depression starts, and how it affects some parts of the body. Again, I am writing this blog to help people understand depression, and to help those who don’t have depression understand that this isn’t something that people can just shrug off and get over.