Process - Physician - Fraser Health Authority

WHAT CAUSES DEPRESSION?SituationDepression is often triggered by very stressful life situations.If your attempts to cope with these situations byimproving or accepting them have not been successful,you may begin to feel overwhelmed and hopeless. Thenthe risk of a depressive episode increases. Some situationsthat can be associated with depression include:■ Major life events, particularly involving loss. Eventssuch as the death of a loved one, moving, divorce,financial setbacks, or job loss are major disruptionsin one’s life.■ Lack of contact with other people. Social isolationis a significant risk factor for depression.■ Relationship conflict. Times of conflict inpersonal relationships, whether marital or family,are extremely stressful and can contribute to theonset of depression.■ Stress related to your physical health. This isespecially true for health problems that are chronic,cause a lot of pain or disability, and only get partlybetter with treatment. Some physical illnesses ortheir treatments can trigger depression by theireffects on the body. For example, hypothyroidism(a condition in which the thyroid gland secretestoo little thyroid hormone) is often associatedwith fatigue and depression.That doesn’t mean people only get depressed whenthings are going badly. Some people get depressedwhen their life has been going smoothly: depressionjust seems to come out of nowhere! Antidepressantskills like the ones taught in this book are just asuseful for these people.■ Stress related to your job. This can takethe form of employment uncertainty (notknowing whether your job will continue),friction with supervisors and co-workers,or overwork (human beings were neverdesigned to work 16 hours a day,either in an occupation oraround home).SELF-CARE DEPRESSION PROGRAM7 ANTIDEPRESSANT SKILLS WORKBOOK