Depression Causes

Depression Causes – Stress

Overview. There are multiple factors that contribute to causing depression. However, very often, the first time a person experiences depression, it is during or following a stressful life event such as a breakup, move or job loss. In some cases, if a person’s depressed mood is primarily due to a life stressor, and the mood […]

Depression Causes – Loss

Overview. It is common that a stressful life event triggers a person’s first episode of depression. Although the death of a loved one can be one of the most stressful experiences a person goes through, not everyone experiences depression after a loss and the relationship between loss and depression is complex. When someone dies, surviving loved […]

Depression’s Biological Causes – The Brain

The story of depression and the brain began with two common sense ideas. First, there was idea that there was a problem with the part of the brain that controlled our feelings. Second, a newer idea shifted focus from parts of the brain to the chemical messengers that help different parts of the brain communicate […]

Depression: Biological Causes – Genetics

If you ask someone with depression if they have a family member with a history of a depression, the answer will most likely be, “Yes.” That’s because depression tends to run in families. The question then becomes one of Nature vs. Nurture, “Does depression run in families because family have similar genes or because family […]

Depression Causes – Trauma

Traumatic events are events in which individuals perceive the physical and/or emotional safety of themselves or loved ones to be threatened. Traumatic events can be single-events such as a serious car accident or being robbed at gunpoint. They may also be longer lasting events that unfold over weeks, months or years; for example being present […]

Depression Causes – The Interaction of Nature and Nurture

What is understood about the causes of depression is often oversimplified in popular media descriptions. In doing so, theories about people’s biological makeup or so-called “nature” and their life experiences, “nurture” may be portrayed as opposing or distinct explanations and pitted against one another. Examples of this include overemphasizing that depression is caused by particular […]