Oftentimes, people get sad at different instances in life. Sadness is a natural and normal feeling that you are allowed to feel when you are upset, pained, grieving, or emotionally upset.
The expression of sadness varies from person to person and like other emotions such as joy, happiness, and so on. Sadness is temporary and gradually eases with time.
Depression on the other hand is a chronic mental disorder. Depression is a prolonged feeling of sadness, anger, or anxiety that interferes with your social interaction and daily work thereby resulting in lower productivity and strained relationships with your friends and family.
Do you know anyone suffering from depression and needs a nootropic drug that can help them get out of the rut they seem to have found themselves in? go here to get help.
The tricky thing about depression is you may be depressed and not know because it is very similar to sadness or grief. Depression is only discovered after a clinical diagnosis.
Read on to discover more about the causes of depression.
- Age: over time, it has been observed that elderly people are more prone to the risk of depression than younger people. The chances of this happening are even more probable if an elderly person lives in solitude with little or no social interaction with other people.
Photo by Steven HWG on Unsplash
To minimize this potential risk, elderly people should live with their family members or be taken to communities where other elderly people converge and discuss their personal lives.
- Conflict: we all have different biological makeup, hence some can handle conflicts better than others. For people who are largely vulnerable, conflict with a dear friend or close person is a potential cause for depression.
- Abuse: abuse takes form in different ways, ranging from physical abuse to emotional abuse. Abuse of any form is capable of making one depressed later on in life. For some people, the scar becomes a burden they have to carry all through their life and they can’t seem to get themselves to forget the memories.
In the same vein, substance abuse can cause depression in people as can be seen in situations where drug abusers commit suicide. A report says nearly 30% of people with substance misuse problems also have major or clinical depression.
- Death or Loss of a dear one: While it is natural to grieve the loss of a closed one or a family, if unchecked, these feelings can progress into severe cases like chronic depression in the affected person.
- Gender. It is generally believed that women are about twice as likely as men to become depressed. There is no scientific data to back this claim but the hormonal changes that women go through at different times of their lives may play a significant role in this case.
- Major events: unpleasant experiences like losing a job or source of income, getting separated or divorced from your spouse, moving to a new place, or retiring from a job could be reasons for depression.