How does STRESS lead to depression in the non-melancholic disorders?

The Mood Disorders Unit suspects that non-melancholic disorders are primarily caused by psychological processes reflecting an interaction between stress and the individual’s personality. A central feature of ‘depression’ is loss of one’s self-esteem (that is, thinking less of oneself or being increasingly self-critical). Any event, therefore, that impacts on an individual’s sense of self-worth risks precipitating depression.
A common stress event to impact on self-esteem is the break-up of an intimate relationship. The event itself is irrelevant- it is the individual’s response to the event that is crucial.
Consider an individual who responds to a marital break-up with, ‘My wife has left me for another man as she thinks I’m a jerk, and everything recently just confirms what a hopeless human being I am.’ Contrast this with somebody who says, ‘My wife-what a jerk-has left me. Great. I can get on with life again.’ The chance of developing depression is greater for the first respondent than the second. This is because the event differed in terms of its impact on each individual’s self-esteem levels or because they ‘processed’ the event differently as a result of their differing personalities.
Stressful events can be acute (a marital break-up) or ongoing (a dysfunctional marriage), but both have an impact on an individual’s self-esteem.
Many people who develop a non-melancholic disorder have such a low ongoing self-image, or their personality type is such, that any stressful event is likely to trigger depression. In a sense, some people actually create their own triggers. For example, a woman who thinks that everyone rejects her may misinterpret a remark at a party and become immediately and distinctly depressed.

The purpose of normal depression

For most people, depression (even the commonly occurring normal depression) is an unpleasant experience that often interferes with day-to-day functioning.
What then is the purpose of such a painful experience? This question can be linked to another one: what is the purpose of pain? Pain has one distinct advantage – the unpleasant side effects of pain mean that most of us will go to considerable length to avoid it. For example, if we did not find heat painful, we might get too close to a fire and suffer the consequences. It is for such reasons that many nerves in our bodies have heat receptors.
In a similar way, it could be argued that normal depression can be an automatic defence response or a response cued by certain situations. Such a proposition has been explored recently by the American psychiatrist Randolph Nesse, in particular how normal depression may have offered a selective advantage to civilization over time. To the extent that ay of Nesse’s interpretations have validity, they allow the individual to question the meaning of a depressed mood.
Is normal depression a plea or cry for help?
It is unlikely that normal depression is cry for help. If it is, then it is not a very useful or effective signal, as it is more likely to evoke negative response from others.

Tragedy Sucks

Depressing movies are a drowner for your mood and your heart. University of Maryland researchers noted a 37% narrowing of blood-vessel-lining diameter among people watching serious cinema and a 22 percent increase in diameter in viewers of funny flicks.

Additional Serious Health Hazards of Depression

One study of ten thousands met and women over sixty five with blood pressure readings higher than 160/95 found that over a three-year period, the ones with symptoms of depression suffered strokes at almost three times the rate of their hypertensive but un-depressed peers. Depressed patients recovering from a hip fracture and from pneumonia and other infections had more difficulty regaining functions like walking. Other research suggests that up to one third of Alzheimer’s patients become clinically depressed at some point in the course of this illness. Doctors, and families, too, often take a fatalistic approach to Alzheimer’s and do nothing about the depression, even though some of the afflicted will make small but significant improvements when treated for it.
Psychiatrists who specialize in treating cancer patients say that mush the same problems arise there as well. Doctors fail to prescribe an antidepressant because they think, “If I had that illness I had feel dreary, too.” Often, cancer-related problems, such as pain, are prominent provokers of depression –another major reason some patients adopt adopt what physicians think of as a “rational” approach to suicide.

Domestic Violence Causes Depression in Adolescent

According to a study, teenagers who witness domestic violence between their parents are considerably more likely to suffer from symptoms of depression.
In the study of adolescents in the Philippines, almost half of all young people reported witnessing parental domestic violence.
The researchers studied data from 2,051 young men and women aged 17 to 19. They discovered that one in 10 of the male adolescents and one in 5 of the female adolescents had contemplated suicide occasionally or most of the time in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.
Young women reported the most depressive symptoms when they recalled that a parent needed medical attention as a result of domestic violence. Young men reported the most symptoms when they recalled mutual violence between their parents.

Depression in Senior Citizens

Senior citizens who suffer from mild depression are 5 times more likely to develop clinical depression within a year compared to those who had no symptoms.
A study at the University of Rochester found that lots of senior citizens struggle silently with depressed feelings, which in turn affect their physical conditions.
The study showed that depressive feelings in the elderly can grow worse if left unchecked.
Sadness about a medical condition or a loved one’s death is normal. But it becomes a serious problem when a person no longer leaves the house, does not groom himself or eat properly, or has thoughts of suicide.
The best place to notice the early signs of depression in senior citizens is in the primary care doctor’s office, where a physician can ask questions about a person’s attitude toward life and how the person is taking care of himself.

Depressed

I’ve suffered from depression for over 20 years. I’m 31 and I know I need help but its not that easy. I have no one to talk to. My husband is so insensitive to the subject. He so does not understand what Iam going through. he doesn’t even try. reading some of these I totally understand. but in a way it hurts me even more, cuz if there are so many of us out there that feel this way, why does everyone else make it difficult for us to get help, they judge and laugh. My biggest regret in life is that I didn’t kill myself when I was a teenager. I hate life, I always have. Back than I convinced myself life would get better, boy was I wrong.I think in society it would have been more acceptable to kill myself back than. I have a son and I know he would be better off with out me. Iam probably the worst mother in the world. You think after I kicked a hole in the wall that that would have been a wake up call for my husband and he would have become more caring, ya right.
I have never said any of this stuff before in my life. Does it make me feel better? NO 

Read article on Relationship and Depression  

From–Gina Scheel 

Depression Poems

when im depressd or sad i often make up poems here are 2:
My Pain
My heart has been lied to,
broken up into little pieces of pain.
theres no where to hide from it,
theres no way to tell when it will next pounce.
It awaits me,
like a predator stalking its prey,
it follows me where ever i may go,
and its always there when i arrive.
Friendships of mine are always shattered,
just like my heart when it happens.
people say friendships are made to be broken,
i believe the people who say that are the people that break the friendships.
Everyday i cant bear to live another day,
yet everyday i manage to smile,
laugh and have a good time, or so i say,
behind this smile there is a frown.
Behind these tears of joy,
lies tears of sorrow and pain.
let that not fool you,
i will tell you when i am peaceful again.
onli when i forgive the ones that made me this way,
shall i ever b how i used to be.
real laughter and smiles all round,
it will be a long time before anyone sees the real thing, soon.
People say to me, forgive and forget,
but i cant forgive, and i shall never forget.
my heart doesnt lie,
it speaks the truth.
And the truth, even when most solemn, is wat i stick to,
and somtimes the truth hurts more than the pain inside me.
my life will never have new beginnings…..
so y wont this dreaded life ever end?
-Jc
thy blade
thy blade is my best friend,
its always there,
and its always near.
wheneva im sad,
i reach out for my faithful blade,
and it does wat has to be dun.
it slices throu my soft skin,
the red flesh beneath rippin apart,
the blood oozin out from my arm,
and the d*mn pain of it all stingin inside,
calmin me down, its so soothin.
i no i deserve it,
i always have and always will,
people blame me for everythin,
and i dun blame den,
ive always dun everythin wrong,
i no i do, and so does everyone else.
my life has com to nothin,
so would i care if i cut myself?
no afterall i deserve it,
i deserve everythin i get,
im alrdy filled up with so much pain,
wat would anymore matter?
people say dat i shouldnt cut myself,
its bad for my health emotionally and physically,
but why should i care?
people say a lot of things,
and bsides wat doesnt kill you makes you stronger rite?
my friends say they care,
but why should i believe them?
all my friends have dun is lie to me,
endlessly ova and ova again,
and if they realli did care for me,
then why werent they eva der when i needed them most?
people can say wat they want bout me,
whether im a fake or im real,
i dun care anymore,
my lifes probably gonna end soon anyway….
-Jc

Signs of Depression

One or several of the symptoms listed below is usually present in depression. The severity and constancy of the signs make the illness diagnosable as depression. Often other people recognise depression before the person suffering. 

• Constant tiredness 

• Wanting to be in bed for long periods. 

• Long period of sleep or poor sleep. 

• early morning wakening. 

• Feeling worse in the mornings. 

• Over-eating 

• Loss of appetite 

• Lack of interest in sex 

• Lack of interest in things and people. 

• Becoming isolated from others 

• Loss of self-esteem and self-worth 

• feeling and thoughts of suicide 

• Wories that are going mad 

Depressive Illnesses

When we are physically ill, few of us hesitate to seek treatment but the case is very different if we become mentally ill.
Most people find it very hard to accept that they have a mental health problem. However disorders such as depression, anxiety and fobias are commonplace and in most cases, readily treatable. It is important not to suffer alone and to seek medical help if you are suffering from depressive illness.

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