We have experienced it at one time, but what causes this dreaded phenomenon? In his latest sortie into the mires of a medical mystery, our portal’s Dr Salzie unfurls a string of causative factors linked to that all pervading monster de la mind.
1. Summer weather
This one is obvious. The sudden onslaught of summer weather inducing a rapid in the body’s biochemistry at superficial levels, manifests itself in symptoms related to depression, like an inability to adapt to the changes, and difficulty waking up in the morning.
2. Smoking
This one comes in a cycle of abuse. Smoking increases the potency for depression, which in turn causes some people to reach another cigarette.
Nicotine, the main addictive agent in cigarette smoke, causes dopamine and serotonin levels in the brain to increase. These effects are the same as those of antidepressant drugs.
A withdrawal of these symptoms creates a void, a feeling of depression, which causes, as stated before, an increase in the desire to perforate one’s lungs with even more nicotine.
3. Poor sleep habits
Early to bed and early to rise: Sleep deprivation slows down the brain’s ability to replenish itself, causing depression.
This has further been supported by the findings of a study in 2007, hat found that the more sleep deprived people were, the more intensely they were affected by a series of negative images shown in them.
4. Too much time online
Studies have begun to show that an increased time spent browsing chatrooms online, like Facebook and Twitter can contribute to a proportionate increase in depression in people. The time spent being online is actually time spent away from real life, which sows seeds of depression in people.
5. Your locality
It has been discovered that people who live in city areas have higher levels of stress than those in less urban areas. And that stress, building up over time can lead to depression.
The time is true of countries, where people in more developed affluent nations tend to report lower on stress scales than those in lower developed ones.
6. Poor sibling relationships
Growing up, one of the most important factors in how you learn to shape your perspectives of society and to socialize is linked to your relationships with your siblings. The better the sibling relationship you held in your childhood, the better the chances of growing up into a happy adult, according to studies. A dearth of this relationship between siblings is consequently linked to depression in later life.
