Understanding Depression
What Causes Depression?
A relatively common reaction that individuals have to struggling with depression is "I must be very weak!" A person’s background can have a significant impact on how he or she interprets a struggle with depression. Often, individuals who come from backgrounds characterized by financial security, caring and involved family members, and many social advantages prohibit themselves from ever struggling. In such instances, there is usually strong condemnation of the self, with assertions such as "I haven’t had anything horrible happen to me! I have no reason for getting depressed!" Other times, when individuals have come from backgrounds with more daily struggles, there is an equally powerful mandate against being “weak”. A sense of “having come this far” or “representing success for a community that has struggled” makes it feel like a crime to struggle with depression. Nevertheless, struggling with depression usually has very little to do with how “weak” someone may be, by nature. In fact, most who do struggle with depression continue pressing on precisely because they have a great deal of strength. Sometimes, however, strength is not defined by the absence of weakness but rather the resourcefulness of how to respond during some of the challenging times of life.
There are actually various potential causes of depression, only some of which have anything to do with strength or weakness. Some causes seem to have more to do with physiology than anything else. Others have to do with personal history. Finally, in some ways, it seems that conventional ideas about "being strong" may ironically contribute to a mindset that places one at risk for depression. Let’s examine these conceivable explanations for depression one at a time.
Unresolved Difficulty and Pain
Perhaps the most easily understood explanation for depression is the most recognizable: a painful or difficult experience. Death of a loved one, loss of a significant relationship, a difficult transition (from high school to college, for example), or a traumatic event (such as assault or an accident) can all precipitate a depressive episode. All of these examples of possible depression triggers are acute events. Difficulty and pain can also be experienced in a more ongoing fashion and lead to depression further down the road of life. For example, surviving any kinds of abuse throughout childhood and or adolescence can explain depression in college. Sexual molestation, verbal abuse by significant figures (parents, other authority figures, and/or peers), neglect or disregard from care-givers in childhood, all of these experiences are painful in ways that the sufferer needs to keep the pain inside and invisible in order to minimize the trauma. Then, in college, when the danger of being in more visible pain subsides, depression may emerge even when life seems to have improved tremendously. It’s almost as if the depression was put on hold. Whether the difficulty or pain is recent or in the more distant personal history, counseling can be helpful at reexamining the way in which the painful experience continues to inform the person’s life-perspective. From this point forward, revising one’s perspective through counseling and, perhaps, improving the mood through medication, can lift the depressed person back to a satisfying life.
Physiology and Biological Predisposition
Sometimes, depression is largely a physiological problem; in other words, it is as much a medical illness as diabetes in that the body does something different than it does in most bodies, resulting in the difficulties and danger we associate with such illnesses. A medical doctor, especially an M.D. with a specialty in Psychiatry, is the most appropriate source of information about the physiology of people with depression. As medical professionals learn more and more about how the "chemistry" of depression there are an increasing number of medical options that can be useful in helping reduce the difficulties caused by the depression.
Research does show, rather clearly, that depression is more likely to occur if there is a family history of depression. This may be an indication that there is a genetic link and that depression "runs in families". It may also be explained by the fact that when a member of the family suffers from depression, especially if it is a parent, then the condition prevents that person from meeting the fundamental psychological needs of others in the family. This deprivation of psychological support also places them at risk for depression whether or not a genetic link actually exists. Regardless of the origin, what matters is that there are ways to attend to depression, and seeking the support may be the best first step while you are in college.
Being "Strong"
Of course, being strong is not actually a risk factor for depression. However, many individuals live their lives as though it's absolutely forbidden to experience (much less display) any vulnerability. So guarded against being or appearing "weak", such individuals assume a facade of strength that essentially leaves their normal vulnerable and interdependent sides hidden and unattended to. Like children locked in a closet, the more complete version of the person living behind such facades of strength can become lonely, frightened, and..... actually depressed. Such depressions are particularly painful because the person suffering not only has to deal with the pain of depression but additional shame that they associate with feeling this incapacitated. Thoughts such as, "I have no right to be depressed, I have such a good life," tend to dominate the persons thinking. A counselor, because of the objective and supportive stance they assume in working with those struggling, may help to find the struggling person find a way to help you find a way to balance your need to employ your strength while also recognizing the those times when its healthy to admit we could use some support.
© 2003. Gary D. Glass, Ph.D. - LifeShops.