Understanding Depression: Causes, Myths, and Treatments

By Diane Del Toro

Do you know someone who has depression, or has someone in your family been diagnosed with depression? Even if we are dealing with depression in ourselves or our families, we may not know what it really is. Is it just feeling sad all the time? Why can’t people just snap out of it?

WHAT CAUSES DEPRESSION?

Depression is a complex disease. Nobody knows exactly what causes it, but there are a variety of different reasons it can occur. For some, it is triggered by a serious medical illness. Others may become depressed after a sudden life change, like the death of a loved one or a divorce. Some depression sufferers may have a family history that predisposes them to the disease, and still others report feeling overwhelming sadness for no known reason at all.

It’s often said that depression results from a chemical imbalance, but that figure of speech doesn’t capture the many physical conditions that are contributing factors, including too much or too little of certain brain chemicals, faulty mood regulation, or other genetic vulnerabilities. Generally, though, depression can be separated into two categories: circumstantial and clinical.

Circumstantial depression refers to feelings surrounding an event, such as the diagnosis of a serious medical condition or having to sell one’s house and move. The circumstances that can cause depression are extremely numerous: teenagers can become depressed when they have problems with their friends at school; the elderly may fall into depression when they move to a care facility; and a middle-aged man can lapse into depression when he loses a long-promised promotion to a co-worker. Circumstantial depression is highly individualized.

Clinical depression defies circumstances. The depressed person may not be able to find the reason for their despondent feelings, and it may baffle those around the patient, too, because they cannot see any outward reasons for the depression.

In 1996, a survey was conducted by Diana Morales, vice president of public education at Mental Health America. When the study began, researchers found that only about 38 percent of people viewed depression as a real health problem, but when the survey concluded in 2006, 72 percent of people viewed depression as a real health problem.

While attitudes about depression continue to evolve, education is necessary to help lift the stigma surrounding this illness and to help those dealing with depression fight the misinformation and prejudice surrounding the disease.

Some common myths about depression are:

DEPRESSION IS SELF-PITY.

Depressed people may seem to be “wallowing” in their sadness, but it’s not willful self-pity. Depression is actually a chronic physical illness with symptoms that are mostly invisible.

Symptoms include: trouble concentrating, remembering details, and making decisions; fatigue; feelings of guilt, worthlessness, and helplessness; pessimism and hopelessness; insomnia, early-morning wakefulness, or sleeping too much; crankiness or irritability; restlessness; loss of interest in things once pleasurable, including sex; overeating or appetite loss; aches, pains, headaches, or cramps that don’t go away; digestive problems that don’t get better, even with treatment; and persistent sad, anxious, or empty feelings.

MEDICATION FOR DEPRESSION IS USELESS IF IT ONLY TREATS THE SYMPTOMS AND DOES NOT ADDRESS THE UNDERLYING ISSUES.

For those on the outside, so to speak, medication can seem like putting a bandage on a massive wound. Often, medication is what the patient needs to feel good enough to seek help from other sources for the root cause of the problem.

DEPRESSION IS NOT A “REAL” ILLNESS.

Brain imaging studies have revealed the actual chemical imbalances that occur in the brain of a depressed person. Depression is considered physiological, even if the cause is circumstantial; the chemical imbalance is still present regardless of the depression’s origin. Just as you cannot stop a headache with the power of your mind, people with depression are also stuck with their symptoms.

Treatment approaches differ according to the type of depression the patient is experiencing as well as the individual’s personality and lifestyle. Once your doctor rules out a physical cause for your symptoms, you may be referred to a mental health professional, who may begin treatments that include medicine (such as antidepressants), talk therapy, or psychotherapy. The process may take some time, so remain committed to your treatment methods. It may take more than a month for drugs to take their full effect, and you may need to try different treatments to find the one that works best for you.

There are other treatments your doctor may consider. These include electroconvulsive therapy (a treatment option for people with persistent symptoms or for those with severe depression) and vagus nerve stimulation (a treatment using a pacemaker-like device that is surgically implanted under the collarbone to deliver regular impulses to the brain).

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a relatively new type of treatment for depression that has had significant success at improving overall mental state. Approved by the FDA as a safe and effective treatment option for depression, TMS is a non-invasive procedure that applies electromagnetic pulses (similar to those of an MRI) to certain parts of the brain responsible for regulating mood with no or minimal side effects.

Premier Psychological Counseling and Consulting is a local provider for transcranial magnetic stimulation. If you are interested in learning more about Premier’s NeuroStar TMS treatments for depression or if you would like to schedule a consultation, please visit their website at premierpcc.com, call their office (435-216-9290), or turn to page 42 in this publication.

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