There's no single cause of depression. It can occur for a variety of reasons and it has many different triggers. For some people, an upsetting or stressful life event, such as bereavement, divorce, illness, redundancy and job or money worries, can be the cause. Different causes can often combine to trigger depression.
Depression ranges in seriousness from mild, temporary episodes of sadness to severe, persistent depression. Clinical depression is the more-severe form of depression, also known as major depression or major depressive disorder.
Types of Depression: Major, Chronic, Manic, and More Types.
The average age of onset for major depressive disorder is between 35 and 40 years of age. Onset in early adulthood may be linked with more depressive episodes, a longer duration of illness, and therefore a more difficult clinical course.
Depression is often triggered by a stressful or negative life event. Similarly, a recurrence of a previous depressive episode can be brought on by situational causes. Feelings of depression or anxiety can lead to suicidal thinking.
Research suggests that depression doesn't spring from simply having too much or too little of certain brain chemicals. Rather, there are many possible causes of depression, including faulty mood regulation by the brain, genetic vulnerability, and stressful life events.
Depression results from a complex interaction of social, psychological, and biological factors. People who have gone through adverse life events (unemployment, bereavement, traumatic events) are more likely to develop depression.
Shrinkage Of Several Brain Regions
One of the most common changes seen in a depressed patient's brain is shrinkage, especially in the hippocampus, thalamus, frontal cortex, and prefrontal cortex.
There is no cure for depression, but many different treatments are available to manage the symptoms. The symptoms of depression vary among individuals. A treatment plan that includes medical interventions, support, and lifestyle changes can enable a person to live a normal and full life with the condition.
That is the case for major depression. Heritability is probably 40-50%, and might be higher for severe depression. This could mean that in most cases of depression, around 50% of the cause is genetic, and around 50% is unrelated to genes (psychological or physical factors).
People with clinical depression often have increased levels of monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A), an enzyme that breaks down key neurotransmitters, resulting in very low levels of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine.
Serotonin. Serotonin is another hormone that affects mood, appetite and sleep. It is also a neurotransmitter, which means that it transmits messages between nerve cells. Fewer hours of sunlight means that less serotonin is produced.
Major depressive disorder and persistent depressive disorder are two of the most common types of depression that people experience, however, there are many types of depression. What most mood disorders have in common are major depressive episodes. This is also true of bipolar disorder, another type of mood disorder.
The study, which gathered evidence from 361 peer-reviewed scientific studies, found no link between depression and serotonin levels in the blood.
Factors that seem to increase the risk of developing or triggering depression include: Certain personality traits, such as low self-esteem and being too dependent, self-critical or pessimistic.
The death of a loved one, loss of a job, end of a friendship, or separation from a romantic partner are all stressful life events that can trigger depression relapse, research shows.
Persistent depressive disorder symptoms usually come and go over a period of years. The intensity of symptoms can change over time. But symptoms usually don't disappear for more than two months at a time. Also, major depression episodes may occur before or during persistent depressive disorder.
For example, depression is more common among women than men. The median age of onset for depression is 32 years, meaning that half of people who will ever have a depressive episode will have had their first episode by this age.
Women are nearly twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with depression. Depression can occur at any age.
Both men and women can develop a mental health disorder, however, more women are affected than men. Additionally, women are more vulnerable to certain mental health disorders than men.