Depression is a disease, or set of diseases, that at the moment belong to the realm of what is relatively little known to science.
Little is known about what factors can trigger the onset of depression. And there is not much knowledge about whether the reasons for its existence are more biological or more linked to the experiences we live throughout life. However, there are some factors and habits that have been statistically linked to its appearance.
Below you can see a list of these habits that, although they do not necessarily translate into the appearance of depression, can make us somewhat more likely to fall into it.
1. Not getting enough sleep
We spend much of our lives sleeping, and It is during sleep when our body (and specifically, our nervous system) repairs itself to be able to successfully face the challenges of the next day. From this we can deduce that sleep is very important, but problems during this phase can also trigger many very serious problems that can endanger our lives if they intensify too much.
One of them is the fall into depression. Part of the reasons for this are found in the functional and chemical imbalances that lack of sleep for long periods (or, directly, sleep disorders) produces in our brain, but it may also be due to a loop effect: with sleep everything It is very tiring, we find ourselves unable to perform relatively simple tasks and we are less likely to enter states of euphoria and joy, since this would be an “unnecessary” expenditure of energy.
If we learn to see life through the glasses of fatigue, depression has the clearest ground to become part of our lives.
2. Demanding too much of ourselves
This habit is related to the previous one, and is also related to fatigue and stress. It is the other side of the same coin; Instead of tiring passively, it’s about tiring actively, setting too many goals or making them too difficult. Not only will this negatively affect our health levels (also making it difficult for us to sleep if we work late into the night) but it will alsos will give us a distorted image of ourselves.
If we get used to this dynamic, instead of asking ourselves if the goals we have set demand too much of ourselves, we will begin to ask ourselves what is wrong with us that prevents us from being able to get where we wanted to go.
This, if not known how to manage, can negatively affect our self-esteem, can lead us to suffer outbursts of anger and will damage our way of relating to others. All this, in turn, will leave us with fewer resources (social and health) to face tasks that were already too difficult from the beginning.
3. Lack of exercise
Although performing physical tasks that are too costly can exhaust us and leave us unable to do anything else for the rest of the day, practicing moderate exercise will provide us with numerous benefits. In fact, for most people it is totally necessary, to stay in an optimal state of health, to dedicate at least a few hours a week to practicing some type of sport, or several.
Sport will not only keep our body’s muscles well, but it will also make us secrete more dopamine and serotonin, two substances linked to the state of euphoria, the feeling of well-being and happiness. They can be considered antidepressants produced naturally by our body.
There are some people who, despite not having developed depression, show a certain propensity to feed the negative thoughts that assail them. Part of the appearance of these ideas is involuntary and accidental, of course, but that does not mean that always remaining in a state close to sadness and bitterness is not perceived as a problem and as something that can be mitigated if effort is made. in it.
If the default mood has to do with sensations and feelings that cause pain, you are closer to making these emotions worse and become chronic.
However, it must be kept in mind that it is one thing to be a person with pessimistic tendencies and without a diagnosis of depression, and another to suffer the presence of constant intrusive and recurring thoughts of a negative nature, regardless of whether they are related to a fictitious or fictitious situation. with memories about something that really happened, which seriously damage the quality of life. The first situation does not have to seriously affect health, while the second can be very limiting if not treated.
5. Stay in a work environment with mobbing
We must not forget that a good part of the phenomena that lead to depression can be due to how others interact with oneself. In the case of mobbing, Harassment at work can be aimed at harming us on a psychological level to the point of forcing us to abandon work. Recognizing this problem is a fundamental part of stopping episodes of depression.
Depression can also appear where there is a dynamic of harassment and abuse, even if it is not in the work context, and even if we are not the direct victims of it.
We are what we eat, and this also has implications for what we think and the way we feel. The health of our neurons and the type of neurotransmitters and hormones that interact in our neuroendocrine system depend entirely on the type of diet we eat, so serious imbalances in this aspect usually produce a chain reaction with consequences that are to some extent unexpected, but always wide-ranging and with serious effects on our quality of life. The appearance of depression favored by these problems is one of them.
If these changes in our body become visible enough and affect our self-esteem, the loop reaction and the possible appearance of eating disorders will make the situation worse.
7. Drink too much alcohol
People with diagnosed depression are much more likely to fall into alcoholism if measures are not taken to avoid it, but, in addition, people who do not yet experience depression can develop it if they get into the habit of drinking too much.
Alcohol has a depressing effect on the body and also facilitates the appearance of self-control problems that can damage a person’s quality of life in multiple ways, making them increasingly isolated. This also occurs with the consumption of many illegally marketed drugs.
8. Isolation
Isolation is part of the way of life of millions of people throughout the planet. and unfortunately it is also linked to depression. Not only can it be related to the lack of sensory stimuli and the partial absence of cognitive challenges, but it also leaves you without the network of material and emotional help provided by other people and is usually linked to unhealthy lifestyle habits.
In the case of depression in old age, isolation is usually a constant that must be addressed through sufficiently capable and competent elderly care services.
