There are many causes of depression, a mood disorder that affects one in five U.S. adults. Read on to learn more about the various triggers of major depressive disorder and discover how to connect with compassionate inpatient depression treatment.
Common Causes of Depression
The common explanation that depression stems from a chemical imbalance in the brain is an oversimplification of a much more complex condition. Research shows that depression is not simply the result of having too much or too little of specific brain chemicals. Rather, the root causes of depression are triggered by a blend of factors, which may include genetic predisposition, ineffective mood regulation, and external stressors or life events.
Biological Causes
If you are wondering if something like “does lack of Vitamin D cause depression?” it is important to look at how human biology affects depression.
Biological causes of depression include:
- Neurochemical factors: Depression involves interactions between various brain chemicals that govern mood. Neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine play important parts, but their balance is not the only factor that triggers depression.
- Genetic vulnerability: Genetics can dramatically influence a person’s likelihood of developing depression. If a close family member has been diagnosed with depression, this may increase the risk as genetic factors can predispose individuals to similar conditions under stressful or challenging environmental triggers.
- Vitamin D deficiency: Research suggests an association between low levels of vitamin D and mood disorders like depression. Vitamin D levels play an important part in regulating mood and warding off depression through its effects on brain function and neurotransmitter synthesis.
Physical Causes
Along with biological causes, it is important to ask questions like “does lack of sleep cause depression?” Let’s take a closer look at the physical causes of depression include:
- Chronic pain: Persistent pain can be a physical and psychological strain, potentially provoking depressive episodes by continuously stressing the body and reducing quality of life. Chronic pain and depression commonly co-occur.
- Lack of sleep: Sleep deprivation can dramatically impact mood and mental health by disrupting the natural rhythms of the body and impairing brain function. This disruption can prompt emotional instability and increase a person’s vulnerability to depression.
- Hormonal changes: Hormones play a central role in regulating mood. Fluctuations in hormonal levels like those experienced during pregnancy, postpartum, menopause, or as a result of thyroid problems, can trigger depressive symptoms.
- Medical conditions: Certain medical conditions – cancer, stroke, heart attack, or Parkinson’s disease, for instance – can increase someone’s risk of developing major depressive disorder.
- Medications: Some medications, including beta blockers, corticosteroids, and hormonal birth control, are associated with a heightened risk of depression.
Emotional Causes
Emotional causes of depression include:
- Early childhood trauma: ACEs (adverse childhood experiences), especially during early childhood, can significantly raise the risk of a person subsequently developing mental health disorders and substance use disorders.
- Stressful life events: Life events that invoke significant stress – the death of a loved one, job loss, divorce, or financial problems, for instance – may lead to depression. Each person’s emotional response to these life changes can vary significantly and may trigger a depressive episode if the stress becomes overwhelming.
- Unresolved grief: Grief becomes a concern when it is prolonged or intense and can escalate into major depressive disorder if not addressed. This type of depression can stem from the unresolved emotional pain of losing someone close or unresolved issues from the past.
- Isolation and loneliness: Humans are inherently social. This means that prolonged periods of loneliness or lacking a supportive network can affect mental health and increase the likelihood of someone developing depression.
- Gender identity: The risk of depression for transgender individuals is almost four times higher than that of cisgender people.
Identifying the Root Cause of Depression
Understanding the root cause of depression involves unraveling an array of physical, biological, and emotional factors. A thorough medical examination can rule out physical health problems that might be causing or contributing to symptoms of depression – thyroid issues or vitamin deficiencies, for example.
Mental health professionals can use assessment tools and structured interviews to evaluate life history, current circumstances, and emotional experiences that might be responsible for the development of major depressive disorder.
Analyzing daily routines and lifestyle choices like diet, sleep patterns, and physical activity levels, may reveal some physical factors that are playing into depression.
Environmental influences like social support networks, workplace environment, and relationship dynamics can all strongly influence emotional well-being.
Understanding genetic predispositions by discussing family medical histories with health professionals can highlight hereditary patterns of mental health issues.
When someone reflects on their own experiences and emotions, this can help in identifying potential emotional triggers like unresolved grief, significant life changes, or relationship problems, which might be playing into the development of depression.
Engaging with therapy can help people delve deeper into their emotional landscape to uncover hidden or suppressed emotional triggers for their episodes of depression, and even help them recognize the signs of depression.
Identifying the root cause of depression not only helps guide effective treatment planning, but also significantly enhances the chances of recovery by addressing the specific needs and conditions that contribute to the individual’s unique mental health challenges.
Depression Treatment at Renaissance Recovery
If you’re struggling with depression and are potentially self-medicating your depression with drugs or alcohol, it is vital to seek out a treatment program. If you have developed a co-occurring alcohol use disorder or substance use disorder, we can help here at Renaissance Recovery.
Our dual diagnosis treatment programs can be tailored to suit the scope and severity of your addiction, while also simultaneously addressing your underlying depression. Integrated treatment attacking both issues at the same time through medication-assisted treatment and psychotherapy should give you the foundation you need for sustained sobriety.
To get things started, call the friendly Renaissance team at 866.330.9449.
