I am looking up info on depression and alot of websites say an extreme life changes or extreme stress can lead to depression. It was my understanding depression is largely due to serotonin & dopamine, so how would an extreme life event lead to depression? does it affect other aspects of the brain other than serotonin & dopamine, or what?
i am not a shrink, but there seems to be a lot of disagreement about what causes depression, and whether changes in chemistry are the cause, or a result of depression caused by other factors.
some people would say that extreme stress contributes to depression by creating a feeling of helplessness, along the lines of “i don’t know what to do and anything i try to do might make it all worse.” it might be comparable to getting stuck in a non-stop “fight or flight” reaction. one part of the therapeutic process is to focus on specific issues and make decisions about them.
I don’t know how it would happen, but anecdotally, I would say that when I am faced with a lot of stress, I often react by sleeping a lot, which is one of the symptoms of depression.
The exact causes of depression are not fully understood but as well as other factors it’s believed that an inability or defect in the mechanisms that enable most of us to to cope with certain levels of stress can trigger depression. Life events such as bereavement or divorce in most cases don’t lead to clinical depression - however difficult life becomes, peoples “coping” mechanisms see to that - but in some individuals that mechanism is not properly functioning or is absent . It may be due to in balances of brain chemicals, personal history or the lack of a confiding close friend or a combination of these and other factors.
What I’ve heard about it agrees with what Reader99 said. Being in a state of readiness with no relief can basically cause you to burn out.
Apparently, stress accompanied by achievement (such as pushing yourself to meet a deadline or manage a business) doesn’t usually lead to depression. It’s when matters seem to be completely out of our hands that stress is more likely to make us depressed.
If there were a definitive answer a cure would be forthcoming.
A deficiency of seratonin and/or dopamine are alleged to be the cause.
On the other hand the deficiency may be be merely a symptom and medicating to correct the imbalance may relief the symptoms but not provide a cure.
Thought process and external circumstances which disturb normal thought processes may be the key. If the inappropriate thought processes can be redirectied in the proper channels the depression can be overcome rapidly.
For example: The husband of a relative died leaving her with two young girls. She suffered depression utill the oldest finished school and some college. The oldest married and when she sent word to her mother of a child being on the way the relative was on the next available transportation to her daughter’s home, started sewing baby clothes, and was a second mother to the child. No more depression. She had ‘something to live for.’
Another exampel: A man was hired to do a demanding job at which he was very good if not too good. After about a year and half to two years, during which he was working long hours, in effect doing two jobs in one, he went into depression feeling that he was not doing enough. He was releived of the position, placed in a job similar to the one he had prior to being hired. In a few weeks he was off medication and within a couple of months was back to his original productive happy self.