Are you suffering from depression? Are you sad and you don’t know why? We’ve all been there and depression affects different people at different ages of their life and some more than others.
But one thing’s for sure, it doesn’t discriminate. Old or young, rich or poor, male or female, depression affects everyone.
So what are the main depression causes and what can you do when you look at yourself in the mirror and say ‘why am I depressed?’
Here’s everything you need to know about the causes of depression.
1. The Pandemic
You might think you have no reason to be depressed or that you are alone in your struggles. But this couldn’t be further from the truth.
We are all living through potentially one of the hardest times of our lives; as the CDC states:Â pandemics can be stressful for sure.
For months many of us have been unable to meet with our loved ones or have any social contact with anyone at all. This has been the biggest cause of depression.
Abusive Relationships
If you have to spend copious amounts of time living in the same household it can be stressful, even more so if you don’t have a strong relationship with your partner of family.
You might feel that you can’t get away from your abusive partner or that you yourself turn to alcoholism to escape them.
To treat this you must move out straight away, if this is possible, and rebuild a life even if that life may seem unappealing such as living on your own during the lockdown.
2. Lack of Sleep
Lack of sleep is bad for your health and a huge contributing factor in depression. It can cause us to be grumpy when we wake up in the morning and throughout the day, snapping at our loved ones.
It can also lead to us performing badly at work and not able to perform the tasks which we set out to do.
Lack of sleep might not solve your underlying depression issues but it can help you get a better perspective on your problems and the world around you. This has never been more important.
Taking Action
Like anything in life if you truly want to succeed you need to want to sleep better and take some steps to get there.
First of all, set a specific bedtime that you try to stick to every night. This should be approximately one to two hours before you intend to fall asleep. If you want to be asleep by 11 pm then you should start winding down by 9.30 pm.
Don’t drink or eat anything after this time to give your body a chance to rest and to stop processing things. Turn off your devices such as your computer, phone, and tablets. Put them on charge in a different room so you’re not tempted to look at them.
Taking a Kindle to bed is fine since that uses e-ink and won’t strain your eyes. Or better still listen to an audiobook. If you don’t have a CD player and don’t want to look at your phone try a smart speaker which users can use to play your audiobooks without having to look at a screen.
3. Unfulfilled Life – Time to Revaluate
You might ask do I have an unfulfilled life? Or am I depressed? You could have reached a certain age and realized you haven’t achieved the goals you wanted to.
Maybe you haven’t found the partner you wanted, you don’t yet have financial security or you are stuck in a job you don’t like.
It’s easy to feel despair in this situation but don’t panic. It’s never too late to change your life for the better. Makes a list of things you want to achieve and then work out steps as to how you can reasonably achieve them.
If money is your end goal for better financial security then figure out what you are good at or what you know and you can transpose this into a business plan that works for you.
If relationships are your issue then seriously evaluate if you are with the right partner or why you haven’t found them yet? Then work on yourself to make sure you are the best version of yourself for a potential partner.
4. Trauma
Unexplored trauma can be one of the biggest causes of mental illness. If you had a difficult childhood then this could be a contributing factor. You may need to seek professional help such as a therapist or depression treatment to help you come to terms with what happened to you and how you can fix it.
You may even need a life coach to help you focus your life and build your self-confidence.
Don’t forget to reach out to friends and family members and tell them that you are struggling as well.
Why Am I Depressed? There Could Be Many Reasons
There are many reasons why you could be depressed. The pandemic is a big underlying factor affecting everyone at the moment so try not to be too hard on yourself.
But you could also be struggling with underlying trauma, an unfulfilled life, or a lack of sleep.
To get depression under control you need to figure out what is making you unhappy and then make a concrete plan to get that part of your life under control so that you can move forward.
If you are interested in learning more about how to answer the question why am I depressed? be sure to check out the rest of our site.