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Causes of Depression
Rather than look at the causes of depression as though depression were a fully understood condition, let's look at it in manageable packets. Exploring and understanding risk factors related to depression can go a long way toward making decisions about treatment and acceptance of a bout of major depression.
Also, as everyone is different, so to are the factors or causes of any one case of depression. For one person depression may have a side effect of increased sleep and fatigue, while another person may respond to depression with opposite symptoms of excess energy or overdrive modes of behavior.
Risk factors related to depression:
- Age
Though major depression typically occurs in people between the ages of 25 and 50, those over the age of 65 are particularly vulnerable for various reasons.
- Gender
Women are about as twice as likely as men in the United States to be diagnosed and treated for depression. About 20-25% of women and 12% of men will experience a serious bout of depression at least one time in their lifetimes. Among children, depression seems to happen in equal numbers of boys and girls. Then, as the sexes reach adolescence, girls tend to become more depressed than boys do. This gender imbalance with major depression continues into older age.
Women are both historically more likely to seek treatment for depression and negative feelings that may be occurring, such as feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness, though even more recent stats show an increasing number of men seeking self improvement therapy sessions.
- Marital Status
People who are unhappily married, separated or divorced have high rates of major depression. The rates of major depression are considerably lower for those who are happily married.
Risk factors do not ensure that someone will develop a depressive episode, and everyone has the susceptibility of developing depression from time to time. Risk factors are just a way of saying that of those that had the worst depression symptoms the listed features were present as well.
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