Everyone becomes down or sad at times. Life events, or just a bad day can sometimes make us upset, and small things like bad traffic can make us irritable. But when a person experiences constant feelings of sadness and irritability, is exhausted with little or no activity, decreases in social activity or participating in usually enjoyable activities, that person maybe depressed. Symptoms of a depressed person include low self esteem, changing or irregular sleeping patterns, or spending lots of time thinking about things that have gone wrong. At this point in time there is no one known cause for depression, however some theories and studies indicate that severe cases of depression stem from events such as financial problems, relationship troubles, or the loss of a loved one. Sometimes the person’s depression may stem from a trouble childhood or family conflict, especially ones that have to deal with parenting issues or between parents. Other times it could be a completely spontaneous mental problem that arises from seemingly nothing.

Women are twice as prone to depression as men. Women deal with more hormonal factors that give them a predisposition to becoming more likely to be depressed. Factors such as menstrual cycle, miscarriages, premenstrual syndrome and menopause all contribute to the increase in likelihood of a woman becoming depressed. Outside stressors and tensions of caring for children, overworking, and single parenthood is a definite factor in the episodes of depression in women as compared to men. That is not to say that men don’t experience their fair share of stresses. Many men become depressed when they go through issues such as family court, job layoffs, or other huge disappointments.

Tags: Dealing With Depression

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