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About Depression
Depression and anxiety disorders often go hand in hand although this is by no means always the case. Feeling depressed is a common experience which can happen to anyone. Depression is two to three times more common in women than men.
Depression may be related to the society we live in; our family and personal relationships; personal factors; or a combination of all three.
Factors in our society which can contribute to depression include lack of accessible support services, discrimination, lack of equal opportunity, lack of employment opportunities, degradation of the environment, undervaluing of particular roles (for example, motherhood), isolation and not being connected to a community.
Family and relationship concerns that can contribute to depression include lack of emotional and physical support, illness, violence, sexual assault, financial problems, physical exhaustion, no time for self, and death of a friend or family member.
Personal factors that can contribute to depression include a family history of depression, a tendency to have a more pessimistic outlook generally, negative and critical thinking about oneself, personal or family experience of trauma such as war, imprisonment or persecution, over use of alcohol or drugs, illness, high anxiety, a tendency to “over analyse” events and poor self esteem.
Less commonly, some episodes of depression seem to come from nowhere and may be because of a lack of certain neurotransmitters in the brain. |
