If you suffer from chronic depression, you've probably had at least one person tell you to snap out of it. You may have also been hurt when friends and family members belittled you for your illness, telling you it's all in your mind. Unfortunately, a great deal of ignorance and stigma still surround depression and mental illness.
However, the medical community is learning more about depression each day and the physiological factors that cause it. While you can take steps to get better, depression is a real illness that you can't control or ward off with will power. Following are three reasons why you can't snap out of depression.
It's Chemical
For years, the medical community has said that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. That may be an understatement. While there are some known chemicals linked with depression, such as serotonin, more chemicals and chemical processes associated with mood and perception are being discovered all the time. There are possibly billions of chemical reactions that make mood possible. Problems with any of these processes may affect your mood.
It's Genetic
Just like many other illnesses, depression can be genetic, meaning it can be passed down through family lines. Researchers have found some of the genes responsible for depression, so they can prove it. More complex findings are also emerging. Some studies suggest that a mother's mood during pregnancy can make her baby more or less susceptible to depression.
It's Physiological
Studies have shown that people with depression have significant physiological differences in their brain. For example, a study published in The Journal of Neuroscience reported that the hippocampus region of the brain was 9 to 13 percent smaller in women with depression than in women without depression. It is believed that the difference may lead to sluggish production of new neurons in the hippocampus, which may cause depression. Studies with mice have also shown that antidepressants increase cell activity in the hippocampus, which may explain more about how they work.
As you can see, there are numerous causes of depression. It's not a state of mind that you can change simply by snapping out of it. It's a very complex disease. As more information is learned, new treatments are developed, many of them tailored and customized for the individual. So, if you battle depression, don't give up hope. You have a real medical illness, and there are treatments for it. Contact a business, such as Commonweath Affiliates PC, for more information.
Share10 May 2016
When my mother fell at home and broke her hip, we all thought that we were going to have no choice to put her in a nursing home when she got out of the hospital. My mother had always asked us kids to avoid putting her in any kind of home, but we didn’t know what else we could do. None of us were capable of giving her the kind of rehabilitation and care that she needed. Then her doctor suggested that we find out if her insurance covered in-home care. I didn’t even know that that was an option. I was pleased to discover that in-home care was covered by her plan. Now she gets great care from nurses and nurse assistants that come right to her in her home, where she wants to be. It’s a great option, and I’m so glad we have it.
