What Causes Depression? Major Depressive Disorder Symptoms Major Depression – What Causes Depression and How to Recognize Symptoms

So, what causes depression? This article will help you to answer this question. Explore possible major depressive disorder symptoms and signs.

No single root cause for MDD has been identified. We can distinguish three types of causes: psychological, environmental, and biological. According to these three types of causes, let’s answer the question: What causes depression?

Psychological Factors

Most of our problems occur inside the mind, sometimes without any reason. Some people are used to think negatively because they experience unpleasant feelings all the time. Constant negative thoughts help develop depression. Some believe that negative and stressful events have a great impact on mood and the way of thinking. The events themselves are not responsible for the development of depression but a person’s interpretation of situations. Some people blame themselves for negative experiences; they may tend to feel guilty and eventually depressed. People tend to be depressed when they feel helpless for a long time. During childhood some parents tell their children that they are helpless or treat them in that way, and when children are grownups they do not feel control over their lives. As a result, they feel helpless and become depressed.

Environmental Factors

In this case, external events play a major role. People become depressed primarily due to unfortunate circumstances that are difficult to change. Individuals who have recently suffered tremendous losses and lack the social support needed to overcome these losses are likely to develop depressive disorders. In addition, problems in interpersonal relationships, financial stresses, and unemployment may also lead to the development of a major depressive disorder. Early childhood abuse is another risk factor for developing depression.

Biological Factors

Researches have shown that genetic factor plays a certain role in the development of MDD. It has been found that people with a higher genetic risk of depression are more likely to become depressed following a stressful event than people with fewer genetic risk factors.

People with depression appear to have physical changes in their brains. The significance of these changes is still uncertain but may eventually help pinpoint causes.

Neurotransmitters. These naturally occurring brain chemicals linked to mood are thought to play a direct role in depression.

Hormones. Changes in the body’s balance of hormones may be involved in causing or triggering depression. Hormone changes can result from thyroid problems, menopause and a number of other conditions.

So, these factors shed some light on the question “what causes depression?”

Read more: Do I have Depression? How to hear its steps

Major Depressive Disorder Symptoms

The main sign of major depressive disorder is a constant bad mood. Most people feel bad for a while but people with depression experience sadness for many days, weeks and even months. And even one good event can’t help to get rid of it. In some cases, the symptoms are identified by a loss or terrible event, such as divorce or death in the family. But very often the disorder may begin without any obvious reason. Depressed people are often sad, irritable, touchable, and easily moved to tears. They sleep unwell or too much, get tired faster, lack energy, plus they are unsatisfied sexually or just loose interest in it. Persons with MDD try to avoid any type of social activity. To make a story short, they become unhappy.  Some people with depression may deny that they feel depressed or just aren’t aware of it, but they don’t enjoy life anymore. We can find many of these symptoms in children and teenagers, but they may often be easily frustrated and grumpy instead of sad and blue due to young age.

You should remember that not everyone who is depressed experiences every symptom. Some people experience only a few symptoms; some people suffer many. The severity of symptoms varies among individuals and also over time.

Symptoms of MDD classification

Psychological symptoms:

• constant bad mood or sadness
• feelings of hopeless and helpless
• low self-esteem
• inclined to cry
• the feeling of guilt
• irritable and intolerant to others
• no motivation or interest in things
• difficult to make decisions
• loss of interest in life
• anxious or worried
• suicidal thoughts or thoughts of harming yourself, suicide attempts
• unable to concentrate

Physical symptoms:

• slow movement, speech or thinking
• change in appetite or weight (loss or gain)
• constipation
• unexplained aches and pains
• lack of energy or lack of interest in sex (loss of libido)
• changes to your menstrual cycle
• insomnia (hard to fall asleep at night or wake up very early in the morning, wake up in the middle of the night and difficult to return in bed) or hypersomnia (to sleep much more than normal)
• lack of energy, easy to get tired

Social symptoms:

• low efficiency at work
• participation in fewer social activities and avoiding contact with friends
• not interested in your hobbies anymore
• difficulties in your home and family life

If you experience some of these symptoms all the day, every day for more than two weeks, you should seek help from your relatives, friends, and your doctor.

References

1. http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/causes-depression

2. https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/depression/what-causes-depression

3. http://www.depressiontoolkit.org/aboutyourdiagnosis/depression.asp

Additional:

4. http://thereseborchard.com/2013/06/13/what-causes-depression/

5. http://www.koreatimesus.com/depression-among-teenagers-causes-and-treatment/

6. http://andrewknott.org/2014/04/27/top-ten-causes-of-depression-in-pastors/

7. http://www.bettertherapy.com/blog/causes-of-depression/

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