Lets Fight Depression

There is no one single clear cause of depression.  There are a variety of theories on depression causes, and many of them are situation-based.  The most likely possibility is that depression has multiple causes and that depression may have one or more different causes on a case-by-case basis.  However, the more severe the depression a person is experiencing, the more likely that part of the cause is related to a chemical imbalance or deficiency.  Because this is not an exact science, only a doctor can give you a diagnosis with a cause for your particular case.  If you are looking for a pure fact-based look at these symptoms, Wikipedia also has some great resources on biology versus psychological.  However, we will give you some of the likely causes of depression with a touch of personal experience.

Lack of Serotonin

This is a complex chemical that helps regulate happiness within the body as well as performs other functions such as decreasing energy usage when there is a lack of food available.  A lack of Serotonin in the brain will cause a person to feel much less happy and they will not get the same level of happiness from activities that they used to enjoy when there is a lack of it in the brain.  Some people’s body naturally produces more Serotonin than others and people with a low Serotonin level are more likely to feel depressed.  A diet high in Serotonin inhibitors can help increase the level of Serotonin in a person with a deficiency and anti-depressants can also help regulate these levels.

Kris has taken a serotonin inhibitor called Celexa for many years.  The side effects for him were quite mild and the medicine helped him regain his stability after doubling the dosage a few times.

Lack of Norepinephrine

Norepinephrine is a chemical in the brain that increases heart rate when a person is scared, nervous, excited, or ready to fight.  A lack of Norepinephrine can cause a person to have a feeling of numbness from an emotional perspective because no matter what they do they are going to be unable to get that feeling of fear or excitement.  Everything will just seem rather dull.  Norepinephrine is regulated by the body so closely by Serotonin and Dopamine that it is generally not increased without increasing at least one of the other two chemicals as well.

Kris has not taken Norepinephrine Inhibitors also known as Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors, but through his research he found that they work very similarly to Serotonin Inhibitors and are usually given after a patient has first tried Serotonin alone.

Lack of Dopamine

Dopamine does affect feelings of motivation and mood in the body, but also has so many other functions that it is difficult to narrow down only one reason that increasing dopamine may help depression.  Because dopamine can also affect a person’s movement, attention, memory, and sleep, psychiatrists often prefer to use Serotonin to first try and regulate a person’s happiness levels.  Too much or two little Dopamine can also lead to a wide variety of other diseases so trading depression for another disorder is a possibility when artificially modifying levels of Dopamine in the brain.

Kris is bipolar.  His psychiatrist told him that they try to avoid modifying Dopamine levels in people with bipolar disorder.

Genetics

There are plenty of studies out there that show a link between depression and family history.  However, there is not an exact gene or other genetic reason that has been proven to be the link between family history and depression.  Genetics certainly plays an important role in the development of depression, but it is just one piece in a much larger puzzle.  Considering that there are so many people out there that never even get diagnosed with depression even though they have it, a family history without depression or another mood disorder may be totally inaccurate.  Further studies are still being conducted on genetics as a cause of depression, but for now it has its place as an indicator, but certainly not a determinant.

Kris’s grandmother was bipolar and she committed suicide.  His brother was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder.  Kris highly recommends that anyone with a family history of a mood disorder schedule an appointment for a check up by a psychiatrist.

Traumatic Experiences

Certain traumatic experiences such as abuse can cause a person to have minor or major depression.  This is most commonly known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.  This is common for war veterans and children after they go through a traumatic experience.  This is generally going to take a very extreme trauma for a person to go into a major depressive episode, but traumas can also cause the symptoms of minor depression.  Depression due to a traumatic experience may be able to be completely cured to the point where prescription drugs will no longer be needed unlike the most severe forms of depression.  In this case, it is pretty clear what the cause of the depression is so it is not like the other forms of depression where it may be genetically related or due to a lack of a specific chemical.  This may simply be psychological or it may in fact cause the body to decrease the amount of chemicals the body actually produces.  Traumatic experiences must be treated on a case by case basis and it is much harder to make generalizations about people suffering from this cause of depression.

Kris has very little experience with this form of depression so it is recommended that you see your doctor for treatment options.  He plans on doing further research on this subject in the future and will go into more depth.  Links will be added to the bottom of this page.

Other Medications

Prescription medications used for all forms of diseases may have depression as one of the side effects of that particular drug.  It is important to understand that many prescription drugs can modify the balance of chemicals in the body so that less Serotonin is produced in the brain.  These drugs are generally supposed to help a person, but they may in fact give them the symptoms of depression which can be even more deadly.  You should always talk to your doctor about the side effects before taking a prescription medication.

Some prescriptions that Kris has taken have caused negative side effects causing his other medications to stop working.  He has to be incredibly careful which medications that he takes because it can cause him to relapse back into a depressive state.

Pregnancy

Pregnancy is known to cause depressive symptoms for the few weeks following the birth.  If you are properly diagnosed in this category, then this should only be a temporary depression.  Although this can be just as deadly as other forms of depression, you should take comfort in the fact that it will pass in a few weeks.  Although this does not happen to all women after a pregnancy, it is a very realistic possibility because of how many women actually do suffer from postpartum depression.  Your doctor should inform you of the possibility of postpartum depression and give you a number to call if you start having these symptoms.  As always if you are thinking of suicide or any impact to your child, make sure to call 911 or your emergency line immediately.

Substance Abuse

One clear cause of depression is substance abuse and addiction.  Certain substances such as alcohol and cocaine will replace Serotonin and other chemicals that make you happy so that the only way you can experience happiness is through use of that particular drug.  In addition, many of these drugs may have psychological impacts on people to the point where they cannot be happy without going in to the drug induced state.  Perhaps the hardest thing to do is admit that you need help once you have substance induced depression, but it is important to understand that most countries have doctor-patient confidentiality agreements to prevent your psychiatrist from incriminating you for breaking the law.  Substance induced depression can be one of the most difficult forms of depression to recover from and many people who do not commit themselves 100% to the treatment process may never be able to recover from this depression.  If you fall into this category, make sure to seek help from support groups, family, and friends in addition to standard treatment with a psychiatrist.

Kris has experienced depression through excessive alcohol use over weeks at a time combined with his current prescriptions.  He hopes that all of you reading this never have to experience this misery.