Endings and goodbyes. Sickness or death of a loved one. The loss of some aspect of identity (e.g., during times of transition at home, work, life stages) Being disappointed by an unexpected outcome (e.g., not receiving a raise at work when you expected it)
Life Events
The death of a family member, friend, or pet sometimes leads to depression. Other difficult life events — like when parents divorce, separate, or remarry — can also trigger it. Whether or not tough life situations lead to depression can depend on how well a person can cope, stay positive, and get support.
Changes in brain chemistry, especially disruptions in neurotransmitters like serotonin, that play an important role in regulating many bodily functions, including mood, sleep, and appetite, are thought to play a particularly important role in depression.
Along with the emotional baggage it carries, extreme sadness can cause distinctive physical sensations in the chest: tight muscles, a pounding heart, rapid breathing, and even a churning stomach. As you can see on the body map, survey respondents pinpointed the chest as a major spot for the manifestation of sadness.
feeling tense, nervous or unable to relax. having a sense of dread, or fearing the worst. feeling like the world is speeding up or slowing down. feeling like other people can see you're anxious and are looking at you.
SAD occurs much more often in women than in men, and it is more common in those living farther north, where there are shorter daylight hours in the winter. For example, people living in Alaska or New England may be more likely to develop SAD than people living in Florida. In most cases, SAD begins in young adulthood.
Symptoms of SAD
a loss of pleasure or interest in normal everyday activities. irritability. feelings of despair, guilt and worthlessness. feeling lethargic (lacking in energy) and sleepy during the day.
In humans, sadness is characterised by specific behaviours (social withdrawal, lower reward seeking, slow gait), a typical facial expression (drooping eyelids, downcast eyes, lowered lip corners, slanting inner eyebrows), physiological changes (heart rate, skin conductance) as well as cognitive/subjective processes.
Difficult experiences in childhood, adolescence or adulthood are a common trigger for anxiety problems. Going through stress and trauma when you're very young is likely to have a particularly big impact. Experiences which can trigger anxiety problems include things like: physical or emotional abuse.
People with anxiety often have thought patterns such as: Believing the worst will happen. Persistent worry. All-or-nothing thinking.
The 10 hit categories are the following: (1) genetic, (2) developmental, (3) lifestyle, (4) circadian rhythm, (5) addiction, (6) nutrition, (7) toxic, (8) social/complicated grief, (9) medical condition, and (10) frontal lobe.
The 3 P's stand for Pervasiveness, Permanence and Personalisation. Pervasiveness looks at how much of your life a concern impacts – How big? Permanence looks at how long an issue is going to be of concern – How long? Personalisation looks at how much you feel you are to blame – How much?
You may be diagnosed with mild, moderate or severe depression. Your mental health professional may diagnose you with depression if these symptoms: happen most days. last for at least two weeks.
Aside from affecting your mood, thought processes, sleep schedule and digestive system, depression also impacts one of your most vital organs – your heart. When a person is depressed, stress hormones surge through the body, causing the heart rate to quicken and blood vessels to tighten.
Sadness is a feeling of emotional pain, often due to loss. Sadness may flood your body with hormones like cortisol. Excess stress hormones in the body can cause physical sensations in your heart and nervous system, like chest pain, itching, or a rapid heart rate.
The length of time someone grieves will depend on you, your circumstances, and the type of significant loss you've experienced. On average, normal grief can last anywhere from 6 months to 2 years or more. Research shows that many people find their grief starts to improve within about 6 months after a loss.
They'll ask about whether you've had thoughts of suicide or self-harm. A GP may use a questionnaire to assess your symptoms. Try to be as open and honest as you can be with your answers. Describing your symptoms and how they're affecting you will help the GP determine whether you have depression and how severe it is.
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.