Depression is a mental illness under the psychological sector “Clinical psychology.” It has a few facets to it, and has numerous causes. It is also known as a mental state that most people undergo at some point in their lives. However, there are some people that get chronic depression, or forms of depression that need intervention to help bring them out of it.
A low mood is not depression
Some people think that because they are in a low mood they are depressed. Women seem to use the word depression as often as they use the toilet. Depression is a state of mind whereby there appears no future, past or hope for a person. The person feels nothing but a void and will not envision a happy future or pleasant present without provocation. It is a default position that a person takes on a conscious level that bores its way into the subconscious, which creates a negative feedback loop.
Bi-Polar (Manic Depressive) has a deeper root
People may go through a tough time and become temporarily depressed. In fact, depression is one of the five stages of the Kublar Ross grieving process, and yet a tough time, even a very bad time, does not create bi-polar disorder. This is because the condition has a deeper root that is either nestled in psychology, brought on by biochemistry, brought on by something physical, or all three.
People with Bi-polar depression go through psychological cycles that to the outside observer appear to be polar opposites. A sufferer will undergo periods of extreme sadness and hopelessness where he or she only sees a void in their past, present and future. The sufferer is often unwilling and unable to do anything productive and will feel low and horrible most of the time.
The polar opposite also occurs where the person experiences great degrees of optimism and even excitement and passivity. The person is often highly motivated and pushes him or herself to do things that they wouldn’t do otherwise. For example, if that person has been putting off re-paving the patio, then he or she may start right away by taking up the paving slabs and putting them on the drive to be collected. Many times, people undergoing such positive highs are often stricken with a negative low and their half-completed tasks remain uncompleted.
Causes can be environmental, biological, physical, genetic and psychological
Depression is not a mood, but it has as many causes as a mood. For example, if you were to define yourself as happy, which is a mood, it could be due to your environment, a drug, through a physical sensation, a psychological reason, and may even be because there is a gene that makes people predisposed to happiness. Depression works in a very similar way, except that the state of being depressed is far more serious and can be very difficult to get out of.
Conclusion
Depression has a number of causes and is more than just a low or a bad mood. It can be easy to get into, though it is sometimes thrust upon people without their prior knowledge, expectation or understanding. Furthermore, it is sometimes easy to get out of depression, but many ex-sufferers have trouble “staying” un-depressed.
