Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses but not in the least any less serious. Its symptoms are often inconspicuous and many people suffer from its behavioral challenges without knowing the reason behind them. However, it is also one of the most diagnosed mental ailments and if you think you need help and seek it the chances are that a professional will easily diagnose the reason why you are feeling a certain way.
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If you see a mental health professional and they diagnose you with depression it is highly likely that they would explain this illness as a chemical imbalance in your brain and if need be they might even prescribe you medication (anti-depressants), which will restore the chemical balance and you will start feeling better.
However, for many people, this procedure does not work. As long as they keep taking the drugs they feel fine, but as soon as they decrease the dose or stop taking it, the symptoms start to come back.
Here are some of the facts that explain why it is not that simple to treat depression for some people:
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Scientists use the Hamilton Scale to measure depression. It is a scale from 0, at which you would be bouncing with ecstasy to 59, at which you would be suicidal. Improving your sleep cycle improves your scale for around 6 points and chemical antidepressants can improve your scale by around 1.8 points. The effect is no doubt real but also minimal. For people who are at the far end of the scale, it is just not enough to bring them out of depression. There is a need to expand our options when it comes to treating depressed or anxious people.
You would be surprised to know that a lot of scientists do not agree with the notion that depression is caused due to a chemical imbalance. In fact, there could be up to nine factors that are responsible for depression, out of which only two are biological and seven are social or environmental. The causes can be quite polar and play out in different ways in that person’s life.
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For example, childhood trauma causes the risk of depression to increase manyfold. If you, unfortunately, suffered a traumatic event as a child for example or emotional abuse, neglect can make you 3,100 percent more likely to attempt to commit suicide as an adult, and more than 4,000 percent more likely to be an injecting drug user. The questions arise that why do the people who have had unhealthy childhoods behave in similar ways? Why are they more likely to adopt self-destructive behaviors like obesity, addiction or in extreme cases suicide.
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There is a theory that people who had problematic childhoods behave this way because as a child you have little control over your environment and state of things around you. You are often helpless in stopping somebody from hurting you. So, two way of thoughts open up to you, either you admit to yourself that you are truly powerless and there may be nothing you can do to stop someone from hurting you or you believe that whatever someone is doing to you is your fault. In thinking the latter you convince yourself that you do have some power. This way blaming yourself for the trauma protects you from admitting how vulnerable you were. If it was your fault then somehow it was under your control
This state of mind is also toxic because if you believe you were responsible for getting hurt it also means that you somehow deserved it. You may be prone to take accepting abuse as an adult too because you think that is all you deserve. It can be really hard living with this notion in your head which was once a defense mechanism.
Fortunately, not all hope is lost. Just having someone to ask you ” I know you went this trauma in your childhood and I am so sorry it happened to you. Would you like to talk about it?” can do wonders. Being able to discuss your trauma, having someone to listen to your story and tell you it was not your fault can lead to surprisingly positive changes. Just being able to do that can reduce the chances of future illnesses. Just the act of releasing your shame can be healing.
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More than chemical imbalances in your brain, depression, and anxiety are caused by the events happening in your life. It can due to a feeling of worthlessness, feeling like your job is meaningless or being lonely and not being able to confide in people around you. First one needs to realize that it completely okay to have these thoughts and feel these things. You are not alone in your suffering and many people will be able to relate to you, second, do what you have to do to break free of these underlying causes.