Thinking Styles Feeding your Depression

Every person is unique, even biological twins are different in their biological development and cognitive expression styles. However, all depressed people have much in common in a way of thinking. Yes, they all think in remarkably similar ways. Understanding what these thinking styles are and why they form a pattern, will offer the best weapon to fight depression in its sources.

Depression, to be ongoing, has to be maintained. Otherwise, depression will simply evaporate over time. This maintenance is performed by thinking styles that encourage any introspection to be emotionally arousing.

What's The Difference Between Depression and Prolonged Sadness?

We all suffer, when unfortunate and stressful life events struck suddenly, or penetrate slowly in our lives, causing mental exhaustion and despair: a loved one dies, or perhaps due to outside circumstances beyond our control, we have to move from a house we've lived in and loved for many years. Our energy level may well sink and perhaps we become more insular.

Someone who is grieving can suffer exactly the same chemical imbalance which is so often cited as the cause of depression. However, there are key differences between grieving (sadness), and depression. The person who is not suffering from depression, but is simply sad, is able to see beyond the sadness. They know it'll lift.

The poor old depressive, on the other hand, feels that life will always be the way it is now. There is no future for him or her and quite probably no past either, at least not one, they are able to remember. There's only the crippling misery of 'the now.' The old saying that time heals everything is true for the person who's sad because of an unpleasant event, but it certainly doesn't work for the depressive.

Depressive Thinking Leads to Depression, Leads to Depressive Thinking, leads to…

 As you explore the thinking styles, associated with depression, you'll see how each one of them helps to maintain depression. It alters our perception of reality. It's these thinking styles that make an end to depression a hopeless dream. We're imprisoned by our thoughts.

It's these thinking styles that make it so hard to see an end to the depression, as they limit our possibilities of thought. Once these patterns take hold, the emotional arousal they cause begins to affect us physically. It is not your fault if you are depressed, but there are concrete, effective things you can do about it.

Thinking Styles List

The following styles in thinking can be subtle yet very powerful in causing us to experience needless emotional distress. Interestingly, the more distressed we become, the more our thinking can become narrowed and focused, making it difficult to think in balanced ways. Many times, simply identifying which Thinking Style/s we are using can be very liberating, allowing us to break free from narrowed, unhealthy thinking patterns.

All-Or-Nothing: Events are only good or only bad. They are black or white with no gray areas between the extremes. If something falls short of perfection, then it is seen as a complete failure. "My work today was a total waste of time."

Overgeneralization: You draw general conclusions based on one event or a single piece of evidence. If something bad happens one time, you see it as an unending cycle of defeat. "People are always mean to me."

Mind Reading: Even though they have not told you so, you believe you know what people think and feel about you, as well as why they behave the way they do towards you. "He thinks I'm stupid."

Catastrophizing: You expect things to turn out badly. "If I ask my boss for a raise he will yell at me."

Chain Reaction: You continue down the chain, link by link, with how one bad thing will lead to another bad thing, ending in a larger bad outcome with regard to an overall goal. "If I fail this test I won't pass this class, then I will fail out of school, then I won't graduate, then I won't get a good job, then I will be unhappy in a dead-end job forever."

What If's: You ask questions about bad or fearful things that could possibly happen in the future, while being unsatisfied with any answers. "What if something happens to her?"

Personalization: You think that things people say or do are in reaction to you, or you believe you are responsible for things people do or say. "He looked at his watch because I'm boring."

Shoulds/Musts: You have strict rules about how you and others should/must feel and behave. You feel angry if others break these rules and guilty if you break them. "I shouldn't take any time off. I must work hard all the time."

Filtering: You magnify or dwell on the negative details of a situation while ignoring all the positive ones. "Look at all the things I have done badly."

Jumping to Conclusions: You make illogical leaps in believing that A causes B without enough evidence or information to support your conclusions. "My boyfriend was late in picking me up. He doesn't really want to go out with me tonight."

Comparisons: You compare yourself to other people, trying to figure out who is better, smarter, more attractive, etc. "She is so talented. I'll never amount to anything."

Discounting Positives: You automatically discount or reject positive actions or events as if they don't matter. If you did something well, you tell yourself that it doesn't count, it wasn't good enough, or anyone could have done it as well or better. You don't allow yourself to enjoy even small accomplishments. "If I had spent more time preparing for my presentation it could have been better."

Maximization/Minimization: You maximize your problems or blow the effects of them out of proportion to the situation. Or, you minimize the value of your positive qualities. "This is the worst thing that could happen. I can’t manage it."

Blaming: You blame yourself for things that are not in your control. Or, you hold others responsible for your misfortunes. "It's my fault that my husband drinks. If I were a better wife he wouldn't do that."

Emotional Reasoning: You automatically believe that what you feel is true for you. If you feel strange, boring, stupid, etc. then you believe you are these things. "I feel embarrassed. I am so awkward and foolish."

Being Right: You are always trying to prove that your opinions and behaviors are the right ones. You cannot accept that you might be wrong or inaccurate, and you will go to great lengths to prove that you are right or others are wrong. "You don't know what you're talking about. We have to do it my way or it won't work."

Reward Fallacy: You expect to receive rewards or payoffs as a result of your own deeds or sacrifices, as if someone is keeping score. You feel angry or resentful if your actions do not reap rewards. "I spent all that time fixing a nice dinner and no one appreciated it."

Change Fallacy: You believe that if you pressure people enough they will change to suit you. You also believe they must change since you let your happiness depend on them. "If she told me she loved me more often, then I could feel happy."

Fairness Fallacy: You believe you know what is fair, but since others don't agree with you, you feel resentful or angry. "I deserve a day off from work since I worked hard over the weekend, but my boss won't allow it."

Sources and Additional Information:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Depression---What-Have-Thinking-Styles-to-Do-With-It?&id=4146830

http://www.clinical-depression.co.uk/dlp/understanding-depression/thinking-styles-and-depression/

http://www.allaboutdepression.com/workshops/CBT_Workshop/CBT_09.html

How does Chronic Stress Lead to Depression?

Introduction

A threat to your life or safety triggers a primal physical response from the body, leaving you breathless, heart pounding, and mind racing. From deep within your brain, a chemical signal speeds stress hormones through the bloodstream, priming your body to be alert and ready to escape danger. Concentration becomes more focused, reaction time faster, and strength and agility increase. When the stressful situation ends, hormonal signals switch off the stress response and the body returns to normal.

So, the stress is good for humans.  It keeps us alert, motivated and primed to respond to danger.  As anyone who has faced a work deadline or competed in a sport knows, you can understand that stress mobilizes the body to respond, improving performance. 

However, at the stressful conditions of the modern society, too much stress, or chronic stress may lead to major depression in susceptible people. Many of us now harbor anxiety and worry about daily events and relationships. Stress hormones continue to wash through the system in high levels, never leaving the blood and tissues. And so, the stress response that once gave ancient people the speed and endurance to escape life-threatening dangers runs constantly in many modern people and never shuts down.

Research now shows that such long-term activation of the stress system can have a hazardous, even lethal effect on the body, increasing risk of obesity, heart disease, depression, and a variety of other illnesses.

How it works?

The HPA axis is a feedback loop by which signals from the brain trigger the release of hormones needed to respond to stress. Because of its function, the HPA axis is also sometimes called the “stress circuit.”

Briefly, in response to a stress, the brain region known as the hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH). In turn, CRH acts on the pituitary gland, just beneath the brain, triggering the release of another hormone, adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) into the bloodstream. Next, ACTH signals the adrenal glands, which sit atop the kidneys, to release a number of hormonal compounds.

These compounds include epinephrine (formerly known as adrenaline), Norepinephrine (formerly known as noradrenaline) and cortisol. All three hormones enable the body to respond to a threat. Epinephrine increases blood pressure and heart rate, diverts blood to the muscles, and speeds reaction time. Cortisol, also known as glucocorticoid, releases sugar (in the form of glucose) from the body reserves so that this essential fuel can be used to power the muscles and the brain.

Normally, cortisol also exerts a feedback effect to shut down the stress response after the threat has passed, acting upon the hypothalamus and causing it to stop producing CRH.

This stress circuit affects systems throughout the body. The hormones of the HPA axis exert their effect on the autonomic nervous system, which controls such vital functions as heart rate, blood pressure, and digestion.

The HPA axis also communicates with several regions of the brain, including the limbic system, which controls motivation and mood, with the amygdala, which generates fear in response to danger, and with the hippocampus, which plays an important part in memory formation as well as in mood and motivation. In addition, the HPA axis is also connected with brain regions that control body temperature, suppress appetite, and control pain.

Similarly, the HPA axis also interacts with various other glandular systems, among them those producing reproductive hormones, growth hormones, and thyroid hormones. Once activated, the stress response switches off the hormonal systems regulating growth, reproduction, metabolism, and immunity. Short term, the response is helpful, allowing us to divert biochemical resources to dealing with the threat.

The Stress-Depression Connection

Chronic s tress, such as taking care of a terminally ill family member at home, or sharp and severe, such as losing a job or the death of a loved one -- can lead to major depression in susceptible people.  Both types of stress lead to over-activity of the body's stress-response mechanism.  

Sustained or chronic stress, in particular, leads to elevated hormones such as cortisol, the "stress hormone," and reduced serotonin and other neurotransmitters in the brain, including dopamine, which has been linked to depression.  When these chemical systems are working normally, they regulate biological processes like sleep, appetite, energy, and sex drive, and permit expression of normal moods and emotions. When the stress response fails to shut off and reset after a difficult situation has passed, it can lead to depression.

This theoretical assumption has been confirmed by the several clinical studies. One of the recent researches, conducted on mice, corroborated the theoretical assumption that a long-term exposure to cortisol may actually contribute to depression development. The mice were exposed to acute (24 hours) and chronic (17 to 18 days) doses of the rodent stress hormone corticosterone, putting it into their drinking water.



The mice with chronic exposure, in comparison to those with acute one, took longer to go out of small dark compartments into a brightly lit open field, a common test for anxiety in animals. Those with chronic exposure were more fearful and less willing to explore their new environment, also not showing normal reactions when being startled, another indication that their nervous system was overwhelmed.



Researchers noted that people with Cushing's disease, when too much cortisol is released, suffer depression and anxiety and those receiving corticosteroid therapy for inflammatory conditions also have mood problems.

Learned Helplessness and Clinical Depression

In studying how stressful events may lead to depression, researchers have developed a theory called, "learned helplessness." This theory states that when people experience chronic or repeated stressful events, they learn to feel helpless. This feeling of helplessness is strengthened when a person believes he or she has no control over the stressful situation. Although the research to support this theory was initially done with animals, the effects of learned helplessness may be seen in depressed humans.

People who are depressed very often have negative beliefs about their ability to manage aspects of their lives based on perceived failures in the past. For example, imagine an adolescent girl living in a home with verbally abusive parents who tell her that she is stupid and cannot do anything right. Over time the young girl may believe her parents and come to doubt her abilities and self-worth. She may begin to feel helpless and believe that most things are beyond her control. This feeling of helplessness may make her vulnerable to developing clinical depression at some point in her life.

How to deal with chronic stress?

There are multiple suggestions for relieving from stress negative consequence you can find online. There is no point to remove stress from your life completely, since you cannot regulate the external conditions and life events. But you can adapt your body to handle these stressful life conditions without losing the grounds, being able to manage successfully inside the reasonable response to the external life. One size does not fit all, and you need to find your own mental relaxers and guards.

There are few popular suggestions:

1.       Adopt a pet. Interaction with pets is relaxing and may therefore aid in stress management. Pet therapy is acknowledged approach to reduce stress. But be careful to chose this method, as adoption a pet requires taking responsibility for this creature life and well-being. Are you ready for that?

2.       Apply Positive Self-Talk. Self-talk is one way to deal with stress. We all talk to ourselves; sometimes we talk out loud but usually we keep self-talk in our heads. Self-talk can be positive ("I can do this" or "Things will work out") or negative ("I'll never get well" or "I'm so stupid"). Negative self-talk increases stress. Positive self-talk helps you calm down and control stress. With practice, you can learn to turn negative thoughts into positive ones.

3.       Use Emergency Stress Stoppers. There are many stressful situations — at work, at home, on the road and in public places. We may feel stress because of poor communication, too much work and everyday hassles like standing in line. Emergency stress stoppers help you deal with stress on the spot. Try these emergency stress stoppers. You may need different stress stoppers for different situations and sometimes it helps to combine them.

·         Count to 10 before you speak.

·         Take three to five deep breaths.

·         Walk away from the stressful situation, and say you'll handle it later.

·         Go for a walk.

·         Don't be afraid to say "I'm sorry" if you make a mistake.

·         Set your watch five to 10 minutes ahead to avoid the stress of being late.

·         Break down big problems into smaller parts. For example, answer one letter or phone call per day, instead of dealing with everything at once.

·         Drive in the slow lane or avoid busy roads to help you stay calm while driving.

·         Smell a rose, hug a loved one or smile at your neighbor.

4.       Find Pleasure. When stress makes you feel bad, do something that makes you feel good. Doing things you enjoy is a natural way to fight off stress. You don't have to do a lot to find pleasure. Even if you're ill or down, you can find pleasure in simple things such as going for a drive, chatting with a friend or reading a good book.

5.       Relax. Relaxation is more than sitting in your favorite chair watching TV. To relieve stress, relaxation should calm the tension in your mind and body. Deep breathing is a form of relaxation you can learn and practice at home using the following steps. It's a good skill to practice as you start or end your day. With daily practice, you will soon be able to use this skill whenever you feel stress.

·         Sit in a comfortable position with your feet on the floor and your hands in your lap or lie down. Close your eyes.

·         Picture yourself in a peaceful place. Perhaps you're lying on the beach, walking in the mountains or floating in the clouds. Hold this scene in your mind.

·         Inhale and exhale. Focus on breathing slowly and deeply.

·         Continue to breathe slowly for 10 minutes or more.

·         Try to take at least five to 10 minutes every day for deep breathing or another form of relaxation.

6.       Watch TV. It was proven that the simple watching of television can reduce the level of stress a person can carry at a moment, and it can lower the anxiety level. This is very helpful in the matter: how does stress lead to depression. Also, a very important thing to know is that watching television for a very long period of time, or watching low-quality programs, that our personality rejects sub-consciously, can lead to stress build up, and this is bad for our body and mind, even if it looks like we are enjoying the viewing.

7.       Get to Fitness. In general, physical exercises proved to be an efficient and easy-to-perform, approach for stress reduction. Some of such activities might be especially effective, such as meditation, yoga, dancing, or water related procedures.

8.       Get Massage. Another way to get rid of stress is to go get a massage, when one goes to massage therapy, one can effectively relax muscles, ease muscle spasms and pain, increase blood flow in the skin and muscles, relieve mental and emotional stress, and induce relaxation.

9.       Write about it. Many people claim that self-assessment in written form helps to put the stress factors in proportion and assists in dealing with them. Write self-evaluation, email to a close friend, or start a blog. While writing is not able to substitute the professional consultation, it does help to ventilate the feelings and develop an action plan on how to deal with stressors.

10.   Get enough sleep. Lack of rest just aggravates stress. Adequate sleep fuels your mind, as well as your body. Feeling tired will increase your stress because it may cause you to think irrationally.

11.   See a Doctor. If your stress management efforts aren't helpful enough, see your therapist. Do not wait the moment when depression will penetrate full speed in your mind and body.

How NOT to Deal with Chronic Stress

Some of the coping strategies may temporarily reduce stress, but they may also cause more damage in the long run:

• Smoking tobacco.


• Drinking too much alcohol.


• Overeating or undereating.


• Zoning out for hours in front of the TV or computer.

• Withdrawing from friends, family, and activities.              


• Using pills or drugs to relax.      


• Sleeping too much.


• Procrastinating.


• Filling up every minute of the day to avoid facing problems.


• Taking out your stress on others (lashing out, angry outbursts, physical violence).

Sources and Additional Information:

http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/sep2002/nichd-09.htm

http://www.webmd.com/depression/features/stress-depression

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Chronic-Stress-May-Lead-to-Depression-21680.shtml

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/Four%20-Ways-to-Deal-with-%20Stress_UCM_307996_Article.jsp

http://www.allaboutdepression.com/gen_05.html

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_management_relief_coping.htm

Situational Depression or Reactive Depression (Adjustment Disorder)

What is Adjustment Disorder?

An adjustment disorder is characterized by the development of emotional or behavioral symptoms in response to an identifiable stressor (or stressors) occurring within 3 months of the onset of the stressor. A stressor is anything that causes a great deal of stress in the person's life. It could be a positive event, like a wedding or purchasing a new home, or a negative event, like a family member's death, the breakup of an important relationship, or loss of a job.

These symptoms or behaviors are clinically significant as evidenced by either of the following:

• Marked distress that is in excess of what would be expected from exposure to the stressor


• Significant impairment in social, occupational or educational functioning

The stress-related disturbance does not meet the criteria for another specific mental disorder. Once the stressor (or its consequences) has ended, the symptoms do not persist for more than an additional 6 months. By definition, if your feelings related to the event last longer than 6 months, it will no longer qualify for an adjustment disorder diagnosis.

An adjustment disorder can occur at any time during a person's life and there is no difference in the frequency of this disorder between males and females. An adjustment disorder is diagnosed by a mental health professional through a simple clinical interview.

Adjustment disorders are often diagnosed when it's not clear the person meets the criteria for a more severe disorder, or the actual diagnosis is uncertain. This diagnosis often gives the clinician time to further evaluate the client during additional therapy sessions.

Adjustment Disorder Types

Adjustment disorders are further categorized by the specific symptoms experienced:

• Adjustment disorder with depressed mood


• Adjustment disorder with anxiety


• Adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood


• Adjustment disorder with disturbance of conduct


• Adjustment disorder with mixed disturbance of emotions and conduct


• Adjustment disorder, Unspecified

Possible Triggers

Situational depression differs from major depression in that it is triggered by external events. The symptoms tend to disappear once the sufferer has learned to adapt to the new situation. A variety of stressors have been linked to the development of adjustment disorder. In large measure, what triggers the disorder depends on the individual, but the following types of events have a known association to situational depression:

*Divorce

*Ending a relationship

*Serious illness (yourself or in someone you love)

*Death of a family member or someone you love

*Becoming a victim of a crime

*Going through an accident

*Major life changes such as marriage, birth, or retirement.

*Surviving natural or manmade disasters

Symptoms

The emotional or behavioral symptoms begin to develop in response to a stressful event. The symptoms come on within a few months of the event and it is rare for the symptoms to last beyond six months of the stressful occurrence that prompted them. In this type of depression, the reaction to the stressful event seems out of proportion to what one would expect in relation to what has occurred. The symptoms may interfere with the sufferer's daily functioning. He may find it difficult to sleep, study, or work.

The symptoms of adjustment disorder can include any of the following:

*Anxiety

*Nervousness

*Tearfulness

*Sadness

*Hopelessness

*Worry

*Lethargy

*Fatigue

*Sleep Difficulties

*Heart palpitations

*Stomachache

*Headache

*Missing work or school

*Withdrawal from friends and activities

*Destructive behavior

*Loss of appetite

*Binge eating

*Abuse of recreational drugs or alcohol

Behavioral Issues

In children and teenagers, the disorder is more likely to be characterized by behavioral issues, for instance playing hooky, fighting with peers, or acting out. Adults tend to have symptoms that are emotional in nature, for instance anxiety and sadness. The disorder is very common and can affect people of every age, race, sex, or lifestyle. There is, however, a greater tendency to this condition during times of major life transitions, for instance, with the onset of adolescence, middle-age, or with the arrival of the golden years.

Adjustment disorder and clinical depression

Situational and clinical depression can certainly feel and appear to be the same thing, but there are significant differences that people should be aware of. On the whole, clinical depression can be much more serious and certainly requires the assistance of trained mental health professionals for treatment.

Unlike clinical depression, situational depression (SD) is triggered by an external stress and usually goes away once the person learns how to cope or adapt to whatever happened. Situations that cause it can include the death of a loved one, the end of a relationship, being fired from a job, being the victim of a crime, physical trauma/disease/illness, an accident, having a baby, economic hardship, living through a natural disaster, and loneliness.

Adjustment disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder

Adjustment disorder is not the same as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD generally occurs as a reaction to a life-threatening event and tends to last longer. Adjustment disorder, on the other hand, is short-term, rarely lasting longer than six months.

Asking for Help

A person who is in the early stages of depression will not find much solace in hearing that they just need to get over it. What they need initially is emotional support, someone who will listen and understand without judgment, so that they have a trusted confidant to share their feelings with. Dismissing their worries and concerns as trivial will only prolong the condition because they’re likely to turn more inward and suppress the very things that need to be brought out and dealt with.

Everyone reacts differently to what life throws at them, and dictating the way another should feel is almost never a good idea. The person will feel alone. Although it is said that time heals all wounds, it is the positive and helpful things that you do in that time that bring about healing and mental homeostasis quickest.

A five-year career plan is a worthless scrap of paper unless you have being a good friend/sibling/father/mother/husband/wife/citizen prominently displayed on the list. Being there when someone close to you is down is the true test for that. Fair-weather friends bail out of the fox hole at the first sign of trouble. In a sense you are helping to liberate a mind from the tyranny of depression.

Treatment

A treatment plan for adjustment disorder involves talking to a trained mental health professional who is capable of managing the patient's symptoms through therapy and providing them with effective coping mechanisms. Once the patient learns to deal with the issue that brought about the disorder in a healthy (and sometimes slightly detached) manner, they will most often be fully recovered from the grim effects of it in three to six months.

Asking for help may be the hardest hurdle to overcome for some folks who have situational depression. But it’s essential to do so; and to try as many different solutions or a combination of treatment techniques until the suffering is alleviated and finally terminated. They will need the help of a trained therapist, psychologist, or psychotherapist who knows the most effective way to handle grief, loss, or the disabling upheaval of what brought about the condition. Trained mental health professionals will also be able to determine that this is indeed what the patient is suffering from and not a more serious mental disorder.

In many cases, adjustment disorder is the result of some sort of loss which results in Dr Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's widely accepted five stages of grief that include denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

So the goal is to get that person over the bridge to acceptance. As the Buddhists believe, non-acceptance is largely the root of all humanity’s troubles and there is a lot to be said for that ancient wisdom. While we’re on that topic, along with all the positive effects of regular and sustained exercise for attaining mental wellness, the ancient practice of Yoga is also ideal for healing a troubled mind. You can learn a whole lot more about that by reading Yoga has Far-Reaching Benefits on your Mental and Physical Well-Being. If it helps heal combat veterans who witnessed the horrifically depressing attributes of war, it can work for anyone else too.

Psychotherapy is the most common and trusted treatment plan for an adjustment disorder because the patient will begin to come to terms with how the external stressor affected them. A patient will learn to unravel the discouraging and bleak reoccurring thoughts until they gain a more healthy perspective.

Anti-depressants, medications to help with sleeping problems, and/or anxiety might be needed in some cases to bring a patient around. A psychotherapist will point out valuable insights that the patient is unable or incapable of seeing and understanding. Plus, they know effective coping mechanisms to employ such as cognitive therapy.

In many ways a person with situational disorder is his or her worst enemy. But the new skills learned to cope with this condition will actually improve their lives when they do overcome it. Some of our greatest lessons are learned after coming out of dismal anguish and when you realize that you can help someone who is going through the same thing. You are plugged into what Abraham Lincoln deemed "the better angels of our nature."

Sources and Additional Information:

http://www.wdxcyber.com/situational-depression.html

http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/s/situational_depression/treatments.htm

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/mental-health-adjustment-disorder

http://www.brighthub.com/mental-health/depression-mood/articles/83648.aspx

http://www.brighthub.com/mental-health/depression-mood/articles/86591.aspx

http://psychcentral.com/disorders/sx6.htm

Marital Problems and Depression

As the U.S. divorce rate of almost 50 percent attests, keeping a marriage together can be pretty tough even under normal circumstances. But depression can complicate ordinary marital problems and make marital success even more challenging, said University of Georgia psychology professor Steven Beach.

Depression affects more than 19 million Americans, said Beach, who is director of UGA’s Institute for Behavioral Research. “Although people tend to dismiss it because it’s such a commonly known and diagnosed problem, depression actually causes greater difficulties than many other disorders.” Causing patients to feel helpless, unable to perform some of the simplest everyday tasks and pessimistic about the future, depression can be debilitating for the individual and make it harder to deal with the ups and downs that occur in every marriage, Beach said.

Marriage is a natural arena in which to study the interpersonal aspects of depression because it is such a powerful interpersonal environment. Events that “pile up” on a person who becomes depressed often stem from interactions with family and close friends. Some of the most powerful interpersonal events are those that occur between a husband and a wife. Although troubles in close relationships may contribute to depression, improvement in marital relationships can also help with recovery. This may reflect the importance of marriage as a source of support and the fact that many traditional sources of support are less available than they used to be, Beach said.

While the increase in rates of depression over the past 100 years is not thoroughly understood, some cultural anthropologists believe it results from the lack of inter-personal networks in modern society. For example, people are more likely to move several times over their lives — repeatedly losing contact with potential support groups — at the same time that new forms of communication have tended to replace face-to-face interactions. In the midst of this change, “marriage remains a core interpersonal relationship in modern society,” Beach said. “That may be why marital quality so consistently correlates with depression.” The loss of other interpersonal networks and sources of support may also put marriage at risk in the context of depression.

When a marriage is not working it turns into a stressor, which often causes depression among females and leads males to alcohol abuse. Stressful marriage is the leading cause for depression among women. Women genetically predisposed to stress are three times more likely to develop depression than women not genetically predisposed. Even though this is not a social factor, it is important to point it out as a possible predisposition to depression based on social factors.

If one partner suffers from chronic depression, it is very likely that the other partner will develop depression as well. Even when the depressed partner overcomes this depression, it is common to relapse if he or she has an unsatisfying marriage. Marital distress can also occur if the distressed partner’s behavior triggers negative effects in the spouse. In the large proportion of couples experiencing marital distress, at least one partner is clinically depressed, adding even more stress to the other partner.

These inter-partner problems could even lead to physical abuse. Such abuse is generally perpetrated by the male but in some instances it comes from the female.

In short, the stress-generation model of depression can help to explain the two-way relation between marital discord and depression. Marital distress can lead to depression and depression can lead to marital distress.

The connection between depression and marital distress is influenced principally through the way individuals explain the negative behavior of their partner. Individual's personal explanations of negative martial events greatly impacts marital satisfaction and their emotional state. Trying to attribute blame to someone is pointless and results in unnecessary suffering for the depressed and the caretaker spouse. Searching for a source to blame wastes energy that would be better spent in learning more about the illness and possible treatments. Those who suffer from depression don't choose to and are not simply lacking willpower, "they cannot, through any exercise of will, get out of the predicament they are in".

By understanding that depression is not intentional caretaker spouses may be able to change they way they think of their spouses. For example caretaker spouses my see their spouses as a victim rather than a saboteur of the marriage. A better use of time and energy would be to search for understanding and increased capabilities for compassion and patience. Developing patience through increased understanding is one of the best tools a caretaker spouse can acquire. Patience will be especially beneficial when dealing with the continuous ups and downs of depression and even the constant care needed for patients who may be in danger of suicide.

Caretaker spouses can provide encouragement and realistically remind the depressed of God's love, and the love of family members. It will be important not to lose patience and to avoid saying things such as "just snap out of it" or "get a little backbone". The importance of avoiding such phrases is exemplified through this quote from Helping and Healing Our Families by Morrison: “Anyone who has ever witnessed the almost unbearable pain and uncontrollable weeping of a severe panic attack, or the indescribable sadness of severely depressed person who cries all day and retreats in hopeless apathy, would never think for a moment that mental illness is just a matter of willpower.”

Recognizing that depression and not the spouse is the villain is a huge step in the battle. However while patience, compassion, and love provide support and are crucial for learning to live with depression within a marriage they are not a cure for the illness therefore it is important to seek knowledge of the illness and of treatment options.

The hopelessness model is important as well. Hopelessness can be seen in people who believe that there is nothing they can do to either better themselves or change an outcome of an important event. People who believe that future control is possible experience anxiety in an effort to gain control. If one is convinced that one is helpless in controlling important events but is not sure if the bad outcome will actually occur, a mixed anxiety/depression syndrome will probably surface. In contrast, if one is convinced that bad outcomes will definitely occur regardless of what one does, then helplessness becomes hopelessness and depression sets in. It is normal to become depressed if one believes that there is nothing one can do to prevent a negative outcome.

Stressful life events are a big cause of depression. They include marital problems, divorce, job loss, and poverty. Life events can be seen as dependent or independent. Independent life events happen due to causes outside of one's control--for example, a hurricane taking one’s house or being laid off from work. Dependent life events are ones for which one holds a partial responsibility; generally these are more likely to cause depression than independent life events. One can easily overcome independent life events by blaming the negative outcome on outside factors, hence removing the responsibility from oneself, making it easy to deal with and not turn the negative outcome inward.

Generally if a man does not feel capable of providing for his family he might view himself as not worthwhile, and this can lead to depression. Depending on the culture, a man must be able to support his family. If he feels that he is incapable of doing so and believes he is a failure, it is inevitable for depression to set in. This is true in capitalistic and developed countries, having its origins in the prehistoric past.

Social factors and stressful life events not only cause people to become depressed but also in many cases predispose people to depression by becoming contributory stressors. Thus, in effect, they can become both diatheses and stressors.

Sources and Additional Information:

http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/beattie.html

http://researchmagazine.uga.edu/fall2006/printdepressionand.htm

http://www.healthymarriageinfo.org/docs/depressionandmarriage.pdf

http://foreverfamilies.byu.edu/Article.aspx?a=153