Twelve Causes of Depression

For those who don't have time to click through a slideshow, Yahoo has tracked down twelve "surprising" causes of depression, and here's a one-screen printable list of them:

1. Loss of sleep. (I wouldn't have called this one surprising. Long ago, as a young student, I peer-counselled college kids whose suicidal thoughts seemed to reflect a repressed craving for sleep.)

2. Smoking. (Nicotine has, among other effects, a neurochemical effect that's the reverse of Prozac.)

3. Hypothyroidism. (Especially if it's a lethargic more than an intensely miserable depressive mood, accompanied by chronic fatigue, weight gain, sensitivity to cold, and PMS.)

4. "Facebook Overload"--spending too much time with a computer. (Or any other sedentary habit that prevents the patient from getting exercise, I'd guess. The study didn't identify any computer-specific causes of depression.)

5. The end of anything the patient has been doing, even watching a movie or TV series with a "happy" ending, because now the patient doesn't have that story to follow any more.

6. Crowded urban life. (No surprise there.)

7. Indecisiveness...inaccurately defined as "too many choices." I distrust those who worry about "too many choices" being a problem; they tend to be store owners who want to discontinue the more interesting, offbeat options, often in order to push inferior products at a higher mark-up, as can be observed in Food Lion stores everywhere these days. Non-depressive people don't have a problem with "too many choices."

8. Lack of omega-3 fatty acids in the diet...inaccurately labelled "lack of fish in the diet," although the text goes on to explain that vegetable oil contains omega-3 fatty acids. (Specifically, olive and canola oils, which Grandma Bonnie Peters likes to mix for an optimal balance of omega numbers.)

9. Poor relationships with siblings. (I suspect this is a chicken-or-egg thing. I've always had a poor relationship with just one sibling...the one who's depressive. I love her, but I'm not aware of anybody who actually likes her.)

10. Birth control pills. (Not surprising. This one's been documented for forty years. Actually, forty years ago the chemistry was less refined and birth controls were implicated in causing many things that were worse than depression.)

11. Other medications, especially the ones that are supposed to calm the mind and lower the blood pressure, which are technically known as depressants.

12. Summer weather? We've all heard of "seasonal affective disorder" causing depression as a reaction to winter weather. Those of us who keep up with medical research have also heard of depressive reactions to summer-specific stimuli such as allergies, chemical sensitivities, fungus reactions, and extreme heat and humidity. However, an Oregon researcher claims to have pinpointed cases where patients become depressed just in reaction to earlier sunrise, which has an exhilarating effect on most of humankind.

Caroline Murray's slideshow is not, unfortunately, much better documented than this summary, but if you want to see her photos, click here:

http://health.yahoo.net/articles/depression/photos/12-surprising-causes-depression#0