Why are you depressed?

Since we got the opportunity to explore freely any topic of psychology, I chose a topic very prevalent in our society: depression. Especially in the winter seasons, depression/suicide rates soar as people are affected by the holidays and weather. Personally, I find myself feeling more down than ever in this time period, but I know I'm not actually depressed. It sucks that I never ever have my entire family together for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and seeing other families reunite makes me wish mine could do the same :(

I chose an article from Psychology Today titled "Ten Scientific Reasons Why You're Feeling Depressed" (link below). According to the author, depression is caused by the following:

• brain chemicals: low levels of serotonin and norepinephrine are shown to cause depression
• weather: less sunshine in winter months can cause us to feel blue
• vitamin D: insufficient amounts of vitamin D due to lack of nutrition and sun exposure have been proven to be linked to depression
• hormones: levels of certain hormones produced by the endocrine glands can cause depression, and it is also linked to some thyroid conditions
• expectations: if we expect times to always be good, we are bound to be disappointed
• childhood adverse events: childhood trauma cause the brain to become less resilient and thus causes one to remain in a negative thinking pattern
• stress: stress from a multitude of sources may pile up and leave one with no time to recover
• negative ruminations: negative thoughts lead to even more negative thoughts, which will eventually lead to depression
• your inner critic: an overly critical inner voice spoils one's pleasures when something good happens
• loneliness: feelings of rejection lead to negative ruminations, which furthers one's negative moods

Now that we are more aware of some of the causes of depression, let's all try to become more optimistic, set realistic goals, and spend more time with our loved ones. We all deserve to be joyful :)

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-mindful-self-express/201411/ten-scientific-reasons-why-you-re-feeling-depressed