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Causes of Depression

Factors Influencing Depression

Do you wonder why some people but not others suffer from major depression? Are genetics, biology, environment, or social factors responsible for depression? Or does a combination of these factors play a role?

We Could Do Without This Inheritance

Genetics does seem to influence the development of depression. According to the American Psychiatric Association, major depressive disorders are 1.5 to three times more common in people whose parents have the same disorders. However, research has not yet revealed a specific “depression gene,” and depression can occur in women who have no family history of it. At the same time, women with a family history may never suffer from depression. These facts suggest that depression might be influenced by other biological, environmental, and social factors.

Female Hormones Have an Effect

It seems that depression is more frequent in women than in men. In fact, a woman may be twice as likely to experience depression. The reason for this is probably at least partly hormonal — although more research is needed to discover just how much hormones influence depression.
We do know that certain brain chemicals called neurotransmitters affect mood. The female hormone estrogen plays an important role in neurotransmitter function. When estrogen levels are out of balance, that may have a negative effect on neurotransmitter activity. As a result, the neurotransmitters may not regulate mood properly. A major depression can result. Female hormones also influence postpartum disorders and premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

Melatonin is Another Important Hormone

Female hormones aren’t the only ones that may be involved in depression. Disruptions in the body’s secretion of another hormone called melatonin may be a factor in women’s depression. Melatonin regulates our sleep patterns, and one researcher has found that women produce much less melatonin during the summer months. This change interferes with women’s sleep patterns. As a result, a woman may begin to sleep too much or too little, or become overly sensitive to seasonal patterns of light and darkness. Interestingly enough, while women’s melatonin levels fluctuate during the year, levels do not change in men. This gender difference in sleep patterns may mean women are at greater risk for depression, including depression with a seasonal onset.

Women’s Socialization May Influence Depression

Dr. Doris Gunderson of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center has explained that girls’ and boys’ different socialization may be a significant cause of women’s depression. Girls with a traditional upbringing appear to have “more passive and dependent behavior.” They therefore “may fail to develop the same broad range of problem-solving and coping skills men possess.”
The American Psychological Association has found that instead, women are likely to ruminate (passively and repeatedly focus on negative emotions). This excessive worry can be seen in girls as young as 11! In other words, at a very early age women may learn to react to stress and sadness differently from men.

Trauma and Stress Can Lead to Reactive Depression

Not surprisingly, a woman may become depressed if she’s experienced severe stress, trauma, victimization, or a major loss. This type of depression is called reactive depression. Sometimes it can seem less distressing than a depression with no apparent cause, because at least a woman knows why she has it.

There are Other Risk Factors for Depression

Breast cancer, infertility, and substance abuse have been associated with high rates of depression in women.

Help Yourself

Depression is just as serious as a physical illness. To learn more, please complete the depression knowledge assessment and learn the steps a depressed person can take to feel better again.