What causes depression?

Depression, also known as major depressive disorder, is a mood disorder that significantly affects one’s mood, thinking and behavioural patterns. You can read about its signs and symptoms here to learn more.

There is a wide range of possibilities when the comes to causes of depression:

• Biological reasons: Chemical or hormonal imbalance in the brain, genetic or developed,  can disrupt mood regulation, motivation, and even the experience or perception of emotions; thus leading to depression
• Stressful life events: In some cases, major changes or stress-inducing events in one’s life such as loss of a loved one, abuse, childhood neglect, divorce, loss of employment and many other such situations can lead to depression
• Medication: Sometimes, medication taken for a certain illness or a condition may cause the previously mentioned imbalance thereby causing depression

While these are the most commonly observed causes, they don’t necessarily have to result in depression in every case. The experience of depression and its causes differs from person to person as it is a very complex condition in itself. As the field of psychology grows, so does our knowledge about depression as a whole.

By Nancy, an intern at The Alternative Story