Life Events and Depression
Life Events and Depression
Depression is one of the challenging phases of life. This prevalent mental illness can affect any individual irrespective of their age, gender, and circumstances they are presently facing in their life. Most of the individuals are unaware of the fact that depression is similar to anxiety, and it can occur due to several factors which revolve in our lives. These factors include family history and genetic presence of depressive disorders, ongoing medication schedule, increased stress in the daily lives. The occurrence of life-events also impacts the happiness and peace of one’s life. Each of the factors poses to be a cause for development of depression from basic sadness.
Impact of life events on the occurrence of depression:
Life events comprise of various types of incidents and events which happens in the lives of the individuals. Certain circumstances affect the life at primary level and some of them lead to trauma to the respective individual. Traumatic events cause acute stress disorder and post-traumatic disorder. Each of the events leads to specific effects on the mental and physical health of the respective individual. In some cases, phobia also occurs in individuals where a traumatic event does not directly lead to depression. If an individual faces and suffers from high anxiety levels in the early years of life, then he is more prone to the development of depression. Some of these crucial life events lead to neglect during childhood, loss of any one of the parents or both of them, or suffering from abusive behavior in the family or outside. One of the interesting aspects of depression is that if there is presence of genetic connection of depression. If a major life event takes place, then there are high chances of being diagnosed with depression.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is one of the prime types of traumatic disorder. The other types of trauma-related disorder include Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), and Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder (DSED).
Symptoms of Depression caused due to life events: When life events occur, then most of the individuals lead to depression. Here are some of the commonly occurring symptoms of depression.
- Increased fear and anxiety which rises to a great extent.
- Loss of interest from favorite items and activities
- Withdrawal from meeting new people in the society and network
- Trouble in concentrating on important tasks
- Difficulty in expressing oneself in public
- Sudden violent outbursts on the innocent family members, near and dear ones
Treatment of Depression:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy: Patients who face depression are advised to undergo cognitive behavioral therapy. This ensures that the mental specialist can help the patient in changing his thinking and bring in positive change in the mental health.
- Exposure therapy: Patients who are affected with depression are taught healthy coping strategies. This helps the individual to stop emphasizing on the traumatic situations he is currently suffering from or has suffered from in the past.
- Anti-depressants: The therapies mentioned above are combined with the usage of medications such as anti-depressants. Patients can consult an experienced mental health specialist to proceed with a result-oriented treatment.
