Depression

Depression, or Major Depressive Disorder, is a mental health issue that affects your feelings, your thinking process, and your activities. This problem can be so severe that it interferes with your daily activities and will mostly affect your relationships, work, routine, and even sleep negatively.

Depression is often mixed-up with sadness. Sadness is a normal human reaction to events that we either don’t want to happen or don’t expect while depression is a clinical condition where a chemical imbalance happens in the brain and sometimes, an effect of other factors.

What causes depression?

Even with hundreds of studies about the complex mind, there are still a lot of things we have to know. There is no exact reason why depression occur but we have gathered common factors that can cause or trigger it:

Genetics – different studies have linked depression with a person’s genes but they aren’t too sure about the risk factors.
Chemical Imbalance – sometimes, neurotransmitters aren’t able to pass “messages” correctly and they cause a shortage or excess of hormones leading to depression.
Female Sex Hormones – females are known to be hormonal. During menstruation period, their hormones are in a disarray making them more prone to depression.
Poor Nutrition – low levels of vitamins and minerals can be associated with depression.
Physical Health Problems – stress caused by a terminal illness can cause depression.
Drugs – this does not only pertain to harmful drugs, but prescription drugs too.
Life Events – when a person is in a state of stress for quite a long time, depression may occur.
Grief and Loss – severe grief can lead to depression.
Trauma – traumatic events during childhood can cause brain changes and makes a person more prone to depression.

Are there other types of depression?

What most people don’t know is that there are lots of types of depression. We focus mostly on Major Depressive Disorder but it’s also important to know others. Just like Major Depressive Disorder, they are also grave matters and people also need to be informed about it.

Major Depressive Disorder – you feel depressed most days of the week
Persistent Depressive Disorder – depression that lasts for 2 years or longer
Bipolar Disorder – mood ranges on “too high” and “too low”
Seasonal Affective Disorder – often happens during winter months where sunlight is not present most of the day.
Psychotic Depression – has the symptoms of both depression and “psychopathic”
Postpartum Depression – the sudden changes after childbirth in the woman’s hormones can cause depression
Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder – women with this kind of depression feel symptoms at the start of their period
Situational Depression – can happen to anyone that feels incapable of controlling the events happening in his/her life
Atypical Depression – positive events can temporarily improve your mood

Why is it so common to the youth today?

Depression is so common in our generation today. Different studies have different answers why depression is frequent and wide-spread throughout the world but the most dominant answer is one thing; smartphones.

You may ask, in the time where technology is rampant and communication is so easy, why is there a high number for people who are depressed?

Studies show that the answer lies in technology itself. Everything comes so fast in the cyberworld that we spend most of our time there. We communicate through the internet but forget to communicate face-to-face. We have lots of “friends” but no real (or strong) relationships. We have forgotten what was essential in our lives.

They are also commonly affected due to peer pressure, academic expectations, childhood experiences, and even body changes. The youth believe that they are invincible so when things don’t go like they expected or when they feel like their life is out of control, they feel stressed.

As a result of a teenager’s way of thinking that they are in control, they happen to keep their feelings bottled up inside them. They don’t say what they really feel and when they’ve reached their limit, they might just explode.

It’s not a bad thing to ask for help

You can call or visit these hotlines/sites if you feel that you are on the verge of giving up.

1-800-SUICIDE

(1-800-784-2433)

1-800-273-TALK

(1-800-273-8255)

Text Telephone:

1-800-799-4TTY

(1-800-799-4889)

Military Veterans

Suicide Hotline:

1-800-273-TALK