The Causes of Depression and Anxiety

Digital collage by Sage Liskey featured in Surviving The Collapse of Society.

The physical and mental changes that depression creates can seemingly slip into one's life without much reason. In an attempt to explain the new mood, a person might blame it on how their life is going, or something unrelated that happened days or weeks prior. However, there are generally more direct reasons that explain why a person experiences depression or depressed feelings. Depression is caused by a combination of potentials and triggers.

As a child I found myself steeped in a pool of stressful situations ranging from my family life and personal health to unhealthy cultural norms and living isolated in the country. It took a long time to tease these apart and address them individually instead of simply seeing the world as an awful place to live, but after research and experimentation, I now have a pretty good idea about what causes depressive episodes and what I can do to alleviate feeling mentally unwell. The following information is what I found. 

Things that increase the overall potential of experiencing depression and depressed feelings include:

• Depression running in the family and genetics.
• Hormones.
• Exposure to substances that cause genetic, hormonal, chemical, or neurological abnormalities.
• Malnourishment.
• The time of year one is born.
• Not being properly nourished while in the womb or not being breastfed as a child.
• Growing up in a negative space or experiencing traumatic events.
• Growing up poor.
• Cultural upbringing.
• Discrimination.
• Unmet social needs.
• Communication styles.
• Thinking patterns such as obsessing over a negative thought or judging people around you.
• Unmet needs (sustenance, safety, love, empathy, recreation and play, community, creativity, autonomy, and purpose).
• Consuming foods or medications that cause inflammation in the body.
• Things like low levels of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine do not cause depression as is often cited, but only increase the potential of experiencing depression.

​This list can be generalized into four broad categories: chronic genetic and chemical abnormalities, life events, lifestyle choices, and unmet needs. It may be difficult to discern which category or categories you fit into initially, but doing so will greatly help you find proper treatments for your depression.

"Triggers" put a person into the state of depression. They can include just about anything depending on the person, though some triggers are more common than others. These include things such as:

• Stressful or uncomfortable events like an argument or overstimulating environment.

• Not sleeping enough.
• Thinking patterns such as obsessing over a negative thought or judging people around you.
• Eating too much or not enough.
• Sensitivity to certain foods.
• The intake of alcohol and other substances.
• Viewing and/or listening to certain media, especially news stories and movies, books, music, etc. depicting violence, anger, and sadness.
• Viewing and/or listening to media for an extended period of time.
• Not enough social interaction.
• Staying inside.
• Withdrawal symptoms from addictions to things such as food, media, drugs, medicines, and alcohol.
• Inability to cope with societal pressures such as appearance, fitting in, gender expectations, and other cultural norms.
• A “potential” can act as a “trigger” with factors like sleeplessness and malnourishment.

This article was adapted from Chapter 4 of my book, The Happiest Choice: Essential Tools for Everyone's Brain Feelings. Potentials and triggers are explored in depth with many options for empowering your life and overcoming depression and anxiety. You can download a condensed version of the book for free here, or consider supporting this work and getting a more in-depth look into the science of happiness and radical mental health by purchasing the full version on my Etsy Store or Amazon.

Please note that I am not a medical professional and do not guarantee the accuracy of this information. 
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