What causes the mental disorders?

[Jamal2525]

Hi everyone! I'm wondering, why are people getting depressed? Is that caused by an inner factor or an external one? I heard people that say "for no reason", this makes me think that it might be caused by some chemicals or processes inside our head. Might this be caused by what we eat? Even so, what do you think about it?

[cynefin]

I think it really depends on a lot of different factors working together to create it. For instance, someone might have depression in their family history which puts them in more risk.

I do think processes in the brain are at play and I also think different life events (bullying, rape, etc) can cause it or worsen it if the depression is already there.

Other things such as sleep patterns can take a role. Not sleeping enough can make someone feel worse, as can eating unhealthy foods. Unhealthy foods do tend to release endorphins but they make some people feel more sluggish.

[Kleeeniks]

I believe people don't get depressed without a reason. They are missing something. Maybe someone leaves them, maybe they are constantly stressed, maybe they don't feel loved and this affects them emotionally. Because of the overthinking, this evolves into depression. My wife passed through this when her sister died. She was down, literally. I knew that she needs to release her inner feelings and I let her do that for the next two days. You need a really strong mind to control your emotions in such circumstances so I knew that nothing would help her more than medicine. I had to buy Etizolam [Edited] and it improved her mood a lot. Then we took a trip to Italy and this fulfilled her mind with something else.

[Celyn]

I think cynefin summed it up really well.

There are many factors that may contribute towards a person developing depression, or any other mental health issue for that fact.

There are factors at an individual level such as a chemical imbalance or genetic predisposition to mental illness. Other things such as trauma, abuse, bullying, dysfunctional family/upbringing, unmet needs, unfulfilled hopes/dreams, stress from expectations, poor social network/loneliness, unstable relationships, unemployment, homelessness, loss of loved ones etc can trigger or worsen depression.

There's also the personality of the person to take into consideration. Those who don't talk about how they feel, perhaps more introverted or overthink and ruminate on things may also be more at risk of depression.

Physical health can play a part too in that those with chronic illness and pain may also increase the risk of depression. Those who don't get enough sleep, eat good enough food, exercise, or abuse alcohol and drugs are also at risk of poor mental health.

On top of that is things an individual might not be able to control- such as war, poverty, political and economical uncertainty in their area. Such things cause stress and worry, which can in turn lower mood.

With all the things I've listed (and I'm sure there's many more) it's no wonder that many of us have either experienced depression or know someone who has. And even then, there may be people who haven't been affected by the above, and yet still find themselves depressed and feel that they shouldn't be because they feel they have no reason to be or others have it worse (comparing to others also doesn't help with depression).