Depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the world. Not only does it greatly hinder the productivity and efficiency of a person, but it can also greatly affect their physicality and slow down the healing process if they have other ailments.
Although it is one of the world’s most recognized mental disorders, many experts have yet to find a proper cause for depression. For some it may be genetic, for others, it may be due to a change in career paths. So, to better understand what can cause depression, let’s look into how changes in your lifestyle can cause depression.
Changes in one’s lifestyle can happen for several various reasons; whether it is because of starting a new job or becoming a parent, major changes in one’s life can greatly affect their mood. For example, any high school student can hold together their social life, studying, sports, and other curricular activities fairly easily. Nevertheless, as a high school student moves on to college or university, things get a little harder for them.
They seem to struggle to find time to indulge in sports or to socialize due to a relatively harder course and curriculum.
This learning curve can seem like a big challenge for certain people, and is in many cases very hard for some people to cope with their loss of routine. This can trigger a depressive episode, which if left untreated can further devolve into major depressive disorder.
Other than voluntary lifestyle changes, involuntary changes in your lifestyle can also be a cause for depression. In other words, healing from injuries or an accident is an adequate cause for depression.
For example, a victim of an earthquake or an accident loses one or all of their limbs as a result of that accident. Now during the time of recovery, experiencing depressive symptoms won’t be due to the change of lifestyle but rather due to the trauma, so it can either be depression or grief – which is a different topic on its own.
After the victim recovers and returns from the hospital and tries to resume his life, they will face some trouble as a result of the injuries. Experiencing depressive symptoms at this moment in time can be due to a major lifestyle change, as the victim has to adapt accordingly as a result of their current condition.
However, these two types of lifestyle changes are not solely responsible for a person’s depressive symptoms. The introduction of drug abuse, lack of sleep, or overworking are all lifestyle changes that can lead to depression.
Moreover, addiction to prescription drugs or any other types of drugs can also be the cause of depression, which can lead to a multitude of physical problems.
Today, depression is one of the most well-known of all mental disorders and is the one that sheds light on other disorders that people suffer from. This case study shines a light on the possibility of lifestyle changes that can cause depression.