Familiarize Yourself with the Causes of Depression
Depression is a serious mental illness that can be hard to defeat, and the incidence of clinical depression seems to be rising. Health magazine reports that about one out of every eight Americans has been prescribed Prozac, a popular antidepressant. So what causes major depression, and why are large numbers of people battling this illness, which is frequently called the common cold of psychology?
What Can Contribute to Depression
Depression is a state of intense emotional distress, so it is not surprising that it's frequently brought on by tremendous grief. The death of a child, or any other major loss, has the potential to bring about clinical depression in some individuals. This includes losing anything that is important to an individual, say for example a career that they really enjoyed, not to mention death, divorce, or even the termination of a close friendship.
Yet another root cause of major depression is not having an objective in life. Sometimes a person's life is so dull or difficult that life loses its excitement. There is no longer any joy remaining in any area of life, and the individual basically just quits making any effort to improve their situation. They have lost any hope that their circumstances will ever improve.
Painful events are also able to set off clinical depression. This may include recent traumatic events or events that happened in the past, like childhood abuse. Major depression can also be a manifestation of PTSD, which is also brought on by a traumatic situation, but is far more serious than clinical depression.
Being angry can also cause major depression. Whenever you're angry with another person, you hurt yourself mentally by keeping that resentment within you. It is almost always better to talk it over, whether it is with the individual you're angry at or a counselor, and then let it go. Keeping a grudge can hinder your mental functioning and cause depression.
Understanding what can cause depression may help you determine if there's a situation in your own life you need to change in order to get better. The vast majority of individuals will get at least partial relief from the symptoms of depression from medication. However, if you don't deal with the underlying things that are causing your depression, you'll probably become depressed all over again after you stop taking your medication.