What are common causes and common treatments for Depression?
“I am depressed but I don’t know why!”
This is one of the major problems especially with the youths of today’s generation. A survey organized by the World Health organization in 2017 has shown that 300 million people from all around the world suffer from depression. Other research works have also shown that the maximum of the people are unaware of their reason for depression and that’s why they have not opted for proper treatment and it accounts for 45.7 % . That is why, it is very important to identify the causes of depression and to seek a proper treatment for it.
Prevalence of depression all over the world
One of the major mood disorders is identified and termed as depression which can be elaborated as having some mixed feelings of loss, sadness, anger or frustration that occurs due to our everyday activities. The worst thing is that women tend to suffer twice with depression rather than men. If Depression interferes with our daily work, then it can be responsible for lowering down the rate of productivity which will harm ourselves. Although depression can happen to any person but the average age of getting the onset of depression is 32.5 years of age. The incidences of depression are mostly prevailed in adults and the continuous episodes of depressive symptoms and instances have been noticed to be highest among the individuals of the age of 18 to 25 years.
Although, you must be wondering that what is the actual reason for clinical depression? But to be honest there is no exact cause of depression that can be identified etiologically, but it is noticed that depression usually occurs due to various reasons. Even some people cannot identify their actual reason for depression as they seem to suffer for no reason whereas some other people might be having depression due to their sudden life changes like the death of their close ones.
Some of the common causes of depression are jotted down below:
Genetics: Sometimes a partial link of genetics is found in the depressed patients. If the parents were the ones experiencing episodes of depression, then they are more likely to pass on the risk of depression to their children. Sometimes interaction of multiple genes also arises to a probable type of depression which runs in the family.
Chronic illness: When people tend to suffer from illness or a physical pain over several years or months, then it becomes chronic and it also affects the productivity level of an individual. Chronic pain often gives birth to frustration and dissatisfaction which arises due to various reasons and it makes a person feel more weak, mentally isolated and depressed.
Structure of the brain: Research says that there is a high risk for getting depressed when the frontal lobe portion of your brain is not much active. However, it is still unknown to the scientist if it happens before or after there is the start of depressive symptoms.
Getting actively or repeatedly abused: Emotional, mental, physical or sexual abuse makes 39.2 % of the women to become more vulnerable to depression later on in their life. Various research shows that they are unable to move on from those prior instances of abuse and that’s why they tend to become more depressed.
Poverty: A survey which has been conducted based on the family income and its relationship with depression by the CDC notice that the incidences of depression decreases among the adults when there is an increase in their family or personal level of income. This indicates that poverty is one of the major reasons for depression because when a person is unable to fulfill their wish then it’s normal for them to get depressed.
Research has also shown that around 21% of the people who faced issues regarding use of various substances also tend to experience depression because of frustration. Apart from the above mentioned causes there are some risk factors for depression to which includes:
- Effect of some medicines
- Previous history of other mental illness
- Very low self esteem or becoming self critical and ending up in judging own self each and every time
- Any stressful incidents which have temporary or permanent effects like loss of something special, death of loved ones and even break ups or divorce.
Depression moves on towards a serious mental issue which goes worse if left untreated are the treatment is not properly be done. 73.5 % of the people suffering from depression have seen noticeable improvements in their symptoms after initiating the treatment for a couple of weeks and regularly following it.
The following treatment options are the most frequently used ones which can be accessed easily:
Medications: Your psychiatrist or psychologist may by prescribing some new anti-anxiety or antidepressant medications. But be careful to follow the guidelines of your doctor because every type of medication used for treatment has their own potential risks besides having the benefits.
Psychotherapy: Psychotherapy is also known as talking therapy which is one of the most helpful treatments for clinical depression. Along with medications, psychotherapy treatment when used gives the best results. It helps our patience to learn self help methods by calming down their anxiety and depression levels after identifying the stressors.
Interpersonal therapy: This therapy is a type of short term treatment which focuses on the main stressors of depression. Interpersonal therapy is very much effective in treating the depression levels in the adolescent patients and it is also recommended for treating depression in some children.
Light therapy: Getting exposed to some measured doses of white light helps in regulating the mood and thereby improve the symptoms of fear, anxiety or depression. Usually for seasonal affective depressive disorder, light therapy is being used. It is helpful for treating the major depressive disorders that come in a seasonal pattern.
Brain stimulation therapies: If the medication fails to combat the symptoms and effects of clinical depression then different techniques for brain stimulation are being used. Like that of electroconvulsive therapy which can be used for treating major depression which have not responded to the standard treatments.
Motivating by self care: You also have to improve your mental health by coping depression along with the medical treatment by taking proper care of yourself. The starter pack of self care includes having plenty of sleep, consuming a healthy diet, participating in enjoyable activities and obviously avoiding negative things from which you get negative vibes. It is very important to produce endorphin hormones which are also known as happy hormones that help to improve your mood and it can be done by doing some physical activities like exercises or yoga.
Although depression is not preventable but if you have already faced prior depressive episodes then it is better for you to stay prepared for preventing any future episodes of depression. Always remember that if you feel better after a couple of months of your treatment and so you are thinking to stop visiting your counsellor, then you are wrong because 11.3% of the patients have reported from two or more races for experiencing some major depressive episodes more than once. So, be aware and adapt some basic lifestyle changes besides maintaining the treatment religiously in order to survive as a better person.
References:
https://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/causes-depression
https://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/depression-diagnosis-tests
https://www.verywellmind.com/depression-statistics-everyone-should-know-4159056