What Causes Depression?
Depression is not just about feeling sad. Depression is defined as a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self esteem and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. It is like being caught in between life and death. The body is alive, but the spirit feels dead and does not want to engage in the outside world and/or relationships with others. Depression seems to be custom made for different people. Different things can cause depression. Chemical and/or hormonal balances, prolonged sadness or grief due to a death of a loved one or other tragedy, financial problems, abusive relationships, alcohol/drug abuse, pregnancy, loss of sleep, and medical related side affects from another condition are just a few factors that can lead to depression. Typically speaking, there is a cause which triggered the onset of depression, which then in turn leads to a chemical/hormonal imbalance in the body. Due to this imbalance, it is only rational to think that the answer would be simply to resolve the imbalance via medication. Hence the end result is that millions of depressed people are taking medications for their infliction, thinking that their Prozac, Xanax, Effexor, or Paxil will work like an antibiotic treats an infection. But that is not how it works.
Prescription Drugs: A Viscious Cycle
Suppose a loved one dies, and you are stricken with grief. Weeks have gone by, and you are now back at work and have a family to take care of. Somehow you continue to go through the motions of your duties. As time goes on though, you become less and less social. You do not go to dinner with friends, you do not take your kids to the park, you do not read, you do not laugh. You start to resemble a zombie in both physical appearance and in personality. You start making mistakes at work, and you don't care. You get laid off. You don't care. People ask if you are okay. You say yes, simply because you don't know how to honestly answer that question and it's just easier. Soon, you have financial problems. Big problems. Now, you are a zombie who never sleeps and is constantly agitated. You are pretty much mean to everyone. You need a job, and realize you have a problem. You need to be functional again. You have Cobra - great - so you go see a psychologist and the next thing you know you are on drugs but it's okay because they are prescribed by a doctor. Things improve. You get a job again. You are functioning. You are going to dinners and the park. You even laugh once in a while. Things are looking up. Then one day, you come crashing down. Laying comatosed on the couch you find yourself wondering what is going on. You see your doctor, and then you recall in your conversation that you drank some wine at dinner the other night, or ate alot of chocolate, or got back on birth control pills which have affected the efficacy of your anti-depressant. So maybe you try another kind, and another and yet another. Eventually, you come to the realization that you are now dependent on a drug (perhaps more than just one) to prevent you from crashing and becoming suicidal. THIS IS NOT NORMAL BUT IS BECOMING MORE AND MORE COMMON.
So What is the Solution Then?
The solution, my friends, is to find out what has caused your depression, and learning to live with it if you have to. You cannot change the past. You cannot make people come back to life. You cannot force people to stop abusing you. You can learn to let go of the past. You can learn to accept the death of a loved one and carry that person with you always. You can leave people who are abusive. Further, you can learn, with the help of a good doctor, how to re-balance the chemical and hormonal levels in your body so that you are healthy. Yes, sometimes, drugs can help but only in limited cases do people need lifelong medication for their depression. But mostly, it's diet, sleep, exercise and laughter that will do the trick. The fact is, prescription drugs are overprescribed and cause physical dependencies that literally can cause and DO cause DEATH. For more information, read this site regarding the adrenal glands to get a good sense of what is going on in the body (Please note: I am not endorsing this product and do not know anything about it. Apparently it's some type of system developed for people suffering from prescription drug withdrawals. I just found the information about the body very interesting and helpful.): www.labelmesane.com/adrenal_fatigue.html.
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