When we come across a sad story, we often label it as ‘depressing’.
What we essentially mean is that the story made us feel discouraged, sad and anxious etc.
If this sadness intensifies, both in duration and intensity, it could be a serious problem as it may make us feel that life is not enjoyable or nothing good could ever come out of life.
In some cases, such intense and prolonged sadness is diagnosed as ‘Major Depressive Disorder’ or ‘Clinical Depression’ (when they say someone is suffering from depression, they usually mean clinical depression) .
The exact reasons for clinical depression are still unknown, but it is believed it could be one or a combination of the following factors: genetics, biology, environment & psychology.
Genetics: It has been found that family history can significantly increase the chances of someone being clinically depressed.
Biology: Our brain is made up of billions of nerve cells called neurons and our senses talk to our brain by passing chemical substances*These chemical substances are called neurotransmitters. to a neuron, which then passes it to the next (then to the next forming a chain) until it reaches the part of the brain responsible for acting on the signal.
Normally, the transfer of chemical substances is regulated i.e. how much in how much time should travel from one neuron to the next.
Imbalance in these chemical substances, specifically serotonin (responsible for sleep, eating, mood & sex drive), norepinephrine (stress management) & dopamine (reward & pleasure) or problems in their transferring has been linked to depression.
The reasons for imbalance are not yet known but antidepressants are known to provide more of the three chemical substances mentioned above to provide relief.
Environment & Psychology: Death of someone, sexual or physical abuse, career pressures or financial stress.
When one or more of these factors combine, the situation can get complicated.
There are nine symptoms identified in the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders and a person with 5 or more of those symptoms (most of the time) may be diagnosed with clinical depression.
These include sleep disorder, lack of pleasure in any activity, weight loss or gain, suicidal thoughts etc.
Clinical depression can happen to anyone.
* These chemical substances are called neurotransmitters.
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