What do you think are the main causes of depression

[dlg78]

Sat here reflecting on some of the posts I have read here today and previous days.

Depression is (I think) a lot bigger problem than people / government health ministers / Gp's / employers are prepared to admit, many people suffer in silence.

What do you think are the main causes? It has struck me for a while that some people may be simply incompatible with the stressful lifestyle we feel pushed into these days, I know there are genetic reasons, physical conditions, past life experiences and current life issues that all contribute and cause depression, but I do wonder if somewhere there is the possibility that some of us just don't deal well with the pressure we are under these days.

Would welcome other peoples thoughts on this!

Dave

[Zaf]

my causes are either stress or dreadful life events (like the murder of a friend and her mother) or a combination of both,  I am hoping to change my life enough and the way I think about things to at least be able to avoic/cope with stress better,  catastrophic life events are more difficult to avoid and I'm not sure if it would be possible to completely alter one's attitude to life to cope with such things

[Munchroom]

I completley agree dave that it is a much bigger problem than people realise or are comfortable to think about.

I think mine was a combination of things which never really seem to add up...
For a while I was caught between two guys who I cared and still do care very deeply for (I won't go into detail, its elsewhere on the forum, so you may have read about it...)  - and yet at the same time, my self esteem was at an all time low, and when I say low... I mean as low as you can imagine. It gradually turned into agrophobia, but thats a different story.... Because of that and also because of extreme anxiety, my problems with food started (my anxiety physically prevented me from eating and it has turned into a situation now where I can eat (most of the time) but I am terrified about putting on wieght...) I felt like I wanted and needed to just stay at home, under the covers, all day, but I couldn't. I was under immense pressure doing a job that I had no idea how to handle or what was expected of me... and yet felt i couldnt leave because we needed 2 incomes. Well... ultimatley the desicion was made for me when I had a bit of a breakdown - but in my opinion, eveything just culminated together.

Now - 15 months on - I get stressed out and feel overhwelmed and under pressure from the tiniest things. I'm back working, but one shift a week, maybe two at a push and in a job that I did years ago in which I feel comfortable with what I have to do. I know what to avoid, although its always easier said that done!

x

[Laura]

I strongly suspect that mine comes from getting glandular fever at a sixteen, just as I was doing my GCSEs. As a result I did badly in my exams, did very badly at A Level and at Uni then have been unable to get a fulfilling job in the last 20 years.
Combined with being set up with unrealistically high expectations of my academic and career prospects I have lost all self confidence to the point of feeling I can't deal with simple things like DVLA forms etc and then the feeling that actually its not worth the effort doing anything so I'm better off staying in bed.
I also have some physical health problems which just add to the sense that life is an uphill battle.
I think I also had a genetic susceptibility to depression, I would not be surprised to find both my mum and her mum are/were depressed but neither believed it was acceptable to go to the Dr with their symptoms. I was only diagnosed after the death of my grandad (on my dad's side) and I went to pieces and friends abandoned me because they couldn't deal with my illness.
I think you will see all sorts of causes/reasons for depression.
I think there is more and more evidence that there is a chemical process in the brain that a life event can interfere with and if not reset quickly can lead to long term depressive illness.

[lbruk]

since being aware of my depression, it has astounded me how little i knew of the effects and cuases of this illness. I think my ignorance contributed to the fact i didnt know what was going on with myself, and virtually drove me to taking my own life.

it is amazing that employers, and the general public have such limited or no understanding of what depression does to a person, and the anxiety that can come with it can be so destroying. its still seen as an "excuse" for laziness or just for time off work, thats certainly how i was dealt with, like i was making everything up, when thats never been in my character.

the information is only available if you look for it, but its not required to be known, which as its as dangerous as diabetes/asthma that you do tell your employer that you have and people are sympathetic about, telling them you have depression invokes a reaction like you have the plague! well thats what happened with me anyway!

mental illnesses, as a whole, i think are very misunderstood, and unless you go through it, or are with someone as they go through it, you really have no appreciation of the devestating effects it has you you.

[xwardx]

It obviously differs for each person but main factors seem to be:

Family / relationship issues
Bereavement
Drug / alcohol abuse
Bad experiences during childhood
When someones been attacked in one way or another
A mixture of various different things listed above

[cornish]

well luckily for me i know exactly what causes mine, cant remember the proper name for it but mild brain injury sort of thing, but that cant be diagnosed as i have a huge fear of them and PTSD from the same car crash that caused the above. all of this has slowly developed into more illnesses and loads more complex things

[Got]

Endogenous causes or exogenous causes, or a mixture between the two. I think sometimes it can be a learned thought pattern from childhood that persists unless it is corrected. There is evidence for all of this.

My first memory of depression was at a 4 years old....so I think in my case, my brain doesnt quite work right.