Causes of Depression?

Q.What is or are the cause(s) of depression? Is it simply learned helplessness? Is it neurochemical? Is it a reaction to high levels of anxiety? Or,is it related to environmental causes and or genetic influences? What do you think?

A.My guess is that its predominantly learned helplessness. Specifically,the idea that nothing you do makes any difference. For example,if youre yelled at whether youre doing something "good" or "bad". Further,I think that this long term habitation to learned helplessness causes a neurochemical change in the brain. Finally,its probably a combination of environmental factors(learned helplessness) with a neuro chemical change in the brain with a possible genetic predisposition in some people. Depression is not a disease it is a symptom and the cause is a response to some emotional trauma. It could stem from a parent that didn't respond to the child when it needed attention. The subconscious mind then believes that it has no value and depression begins. Child abuse could be at the base of depression. REMEMBER Chemical imbalance is not the problem it is the result of some emotional response to an event. The event could be real or imagined but brain chemistry, in most cases, is a response not a cause. This is why antidepressants don't cure they mask. Not true, that may be one of the causes of "Depression." There actually is no such thing as "Depression." Look in your DSM and you'll discover that depression can only be diagnosed by meeting observable criteria which are objectifiable and measurable to some degree. Depression itself is not. There is no clear cause or description of what you are calling depression.

Other Questions :

Gaining/losing weight as marker of clinical depression ?

I have been trying to make. Some of the posters here have been confusing the symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder with the symptoms of the broad category of Clinical Depression with the statement that weight gain is atypical of Clinical Depre...

acid/shrooms + depression medications?

Its a lot more complicated than that. Below is something I wrote last year for another group which explains what happens, and can happen even with the very first dose.This is complete bullshit. MDMA, used in psychiatric circles, has had many wo...

scary information about cognitive problems + depression ?

I have always felt that it was unclear whether my cognitive problems (decrease in IQ of 15-20 pts, poor memory and concentration, poor perceptiveness and sense of being fully alive, withdrawn and inable to feel like a "normal" human) were cause...

Chronic pain & Depression ?

I have really been effected by the simultaneous back and abdominal pain. Those two, added to the pain in my knees, hips, and right shoulder, have really thrown me for a loop. I have never experienced suffering like this before, so intense, a...

chronic severe depression ?

Please be vigilant with your emotions. I am guessing that you are perhaps between 8 to 10 years sober and it is not uncommon to have a bout of clinical or near clinical depression around that time. Keep in touch with friends and LET THEM KNOW...