Sometimes it’s instantly apparent what the cause is, but other times there isn’t an obvious reason why you feel so down. It could be that you’ve lost something or someone through bereavement. Usually there will be more than one reason why you suffer from depression, and these reasons differ from person to person.
Common reasons behind the development of depression include:
- Distressing life events - Distressing life events can take their toll on us. Divorce, family problems or losing a job are all momentous in our lives that can alter our mood.
- Bereavement -Losing someone that is close to you, even from natural causes, can increase the risk. It’s not always just the loss that causes it, it’s the way we deal with it. If you don’t grieve or express your feelings properly, they can build up and contribute towards depression.
- Childhood experiences - Your childhood experiences can affect you in adult life. If you were physically or emotionally abused, or not taught to cope with troubles that enter your life, it could lead you to having problems as you grow up.
- Anger - ‘Frozen anger’ is a term that’s closely related to depression. You may have gone through something that caused you to become angry, but at the time you couldn’t express your feelings properly. This type of anger becomes suppressed; it can then build up and become a cause of depression.
