Skip to main content
  • Depression
    It is a serious medical illness that affects one’s thoughts, feelings, behaviour, mood and physical health. It may be a lifelong condition in which periods of wellness alternate with recurrences of illness. Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide with more than 350 million sufferers, according to the World Health Organisation. The number is growing in all age groups in every community, and with many young people falling prey to depression.  
Submitted by PatientsEngage on 28 September 2015

What causes depression

The exact cause of depression is not known. Any person can develop depression but some people are more prone to it. Depression can be triggered by life events such as relationship problem, illness, redundancy, work stress. It may also be caused by certain disorders of the thyroid and pituitary glands and hormonal disorders.

Evidence from genetics, neuroscience and clinical investigations demonstrates that depression is a disorder of brain. Modern brain imaging technologies reveal that in depression, neural circuits that are mainly responsible for regulation of moods, thinking, sleep, appetite and behaviour fail to function properly. In depression, neurotransmitters (chemicals) used by nerve cells to communicate are out of balance.

Are you at risk of developing depression

All age groups, all racial, ethnic and socio-economic groups can experience depression. About 5 in 100 adults have depression every year. Sometimes it is mild and lasts for a few weeks. Those at greater risk are:

  • Women – 1 in 4 women develop severe depression compared to 1 in 10 men. Women after childbirth and menopause are at particular risk.
  • Those with thyroid gland problems - Thyroid gland produces and regulates thyroid hormones. These hormones can effect energy levels, mood, even weight. They can also be factors in depression.
  • Genetic predisposition – You are three times more likely to get depression if your parents or siblings had it. This may be an interplay of genetic and environmental factors.
Condition

Stories

  • Stock pic of a young girl child with blond hair hugging her mother holding her face and feeling depressed. Image is respresentational only
    Depression In Parents Of Children With Special Needs: How To Cope And Build Resilience
    Parimal Pandit, Clinical Psychologist and Program Director, V-Excel Educational Trust Chennai describes the signs of depression to watch out for, how fathers and mothers react differently and how a special needs family can build resilience. 1.  A journey of a special needs parent goes through many ups and downs. What are the stages at which parents are most vulnerable? (Are these different for a mother v/s a father) When a child is diagnosed with a chronic condition or a…
  • Image description: Partial picture of a person on a wheelchair being pushed by a carehver
    "I Realized I Had A Lot To Offer The World"
    Dr Divya Parashar Head of Rehabilitation Psychology at Indian Spinal Injuries Centre narrates what helped one of her patients, who was paralyzed waist down, come out of his self-imposed exile at home to face the world in a wheelchair.  “I don’t want to be seen in a wheelchair, and you can do nothing about it,” said a very determined Deepak (name changed to protect privacy), sitting in my office. A fever had rendered him paralyzed from waist down three years ago. Every morning, he would…
  • Image Description: A head shot of Mr. Akhileshwar Sahay with spectacles as he shares his experience of living with Bipolar, Depression and COPD
    Bipolar or COPD - Never Lose Hope
    And QUIT SMOKING. Akhileshwar Sahay, a seasoned industry veteran, has been living with bipolar disorder for the last 2 decades. In this interview, he talks about his troubled journey with multiple chronic illnesses including COPD, Depression, Diabetes and his commitment to removing stigma related to mental illness.  How did your bipolar disorder start? What were the early symptoms? Bipolar disorder is not like influenza that it is diagnosed at once. Its roots are biological and I was…
  • Image Description: An elderly person with a walker and supported by a caregiver
    12 Confusing and Overlapping Symptoms in the Elderly
    Symptoms like weight loss, memory loss, weakness, and fatigue should not be mistaken as a sign of the"normal aging" process. Dr. Shital Patel explains 12 common but misleading symptoms in the elderly and why you should seek a doctor's opinion instead of ignoring them.  Symptoms in the elderly can have very different causes than they may have in a young person. Many symptoms in the geriatric population may be masked by concurrent chronic ailments, injuries, age-related physiological…
  • Image: Vidya, with spectacles and black hair holding a black and white on her left shoulder
    My Life With Depression - Don't Give Up, Don't Give In
    Vidya Heble has been a journalist for more than 30 years, and now writes and edits from her home near Mumbai which she shares with several cats. She shares her daily battle with depression and suicidal thoughts for over a decade and the stereotypes and stigma associated with it.  Wrath and tears, that is how it started. Sadness, feelings of desperation alternating with irritability that sometimes turned to anger. The symptoms were probably attributable to mood swings till past my…
  • A Kind Word Might Light Up Our Days
    Yuna Angell, who has schizophrenia, advocates it is important to be empathic and sensitive to people living with mental illness and advises how best to communicate with them. Although I have schizophrenia and depression, it still does make me feel awkward when people tell me they have mental illness. I’m at a loss as to what to respond afterwards sometimes. For me, I’ll just say, “Me too. I have schizophrenia and depression. How are you coping with your medication or counselling sessions?” I…
  • A person drinking alcohol from a glass
    The Biggest Barrier is the Self in Alcohol Addiction
    Dr G Kandasami, Chief, National Addictions Management Service (NAMS), Singapore, gives a comprehensive overview on alcohol abuse and addiction and suggests measures to reduce addiction problems. How do you differentiate between social drinking and alcohol addiction? Social drinking is just drinking for fun during social occasions and there won’t be any compulsion in one’s mind to continue drinking regularly. There won’t be any consequences to your drinking. You will not lose control over your…
  • Priya sitting on a green patch with a basket of fresh food next to her sharing her management of hypothyroidism
    How I Took Charge Of My Life And Thyroid
    Priya had for years allowed hypothyroidism and its related issues to get the better of her, till she finally turned around and decided to make lifestyle changes and battle it head on. This is the story of how she emerged a winner. Early Symptoms When I was a teen in the early 1990’s, my poor mother spent hours every morning trying to get me out of bed. I held my stomach or head, faking intense pain. I even locked myself in the bathroom, poured water into the toilet and simultaneously made…
  • Image: Stock pic of a man sitting depressed, holding his head, next to a window
    Don't Be Escapist. Don't Be Angry
    Jack (name changed to protect identity) is a 60 year old man in Singapore who struggled with reactive depression and is now on the way to recovery. Background Jack was working and living a fairly uneventful life with his wife and 3 daughters, until an accident and surgery in 2006 left him with a hip problem that required him to stop working and undergo therapy sessions, plus put up with pain and restricted movement. Naturally this affected the family’s financial situation, but as his wife was…
  • Image: A stock pic of a man running on a road in purple shirts, greyish-purplish t-shirt, red shoes
    A Health Check Up Was His Lucky Charm
    A year ago, Anand (name changed to protect identity) might easily have been any of the quiet pleasant young corporate professionals that one meets at work, or one of the family men that one sees with their kids in a mall. Except, behind the normalcy and everydayness of his life, was a constant mental struggle that began in his early years. The Growing Up Years Growing up in a lower middle-class family, Anand felt that his parents’ roles were reversed, confusing him as a child. He saw his mother…