What is the cause of major depressive disorder

How does stress produce major depressive disorder? Why do I feel sad for no reason? What causes manic depression? Learn about symptoms, causes, and treatment.

Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. Also called major depressive disorder or clinical depression, it affects how you feel, think and behave and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems.

Some people have clinical depression only once in their life, while others have it several. Unlike bipolar disorder, where the patient constantly shifts between feelings of elation and “mania” and feelings of “depression”, someone with major depression is constantly on a downer. Major Depressive Disorder. A change in brain activity is almost always associated with major depressive disorder.

There is decreased activity in the left frontal lobe during depression and a rise in activity following stabilization of mood. These discrepancies between over-active and under-active regions of the brain are at the biological cause of major depressive disorder. The cause of major depressive disorder is unknown.

The biopsychosocial model proposes that biological, psychological, and social factors all play a role in causing depression.

The diathesis–stress model specifies that depression when a preexisting vulnerability, or diathesis, is activated by stressful life events. As with major depression, it may involve more than one cause , such as: Biological differences. People with persistent depressive disorder may have physical changes in their brains. The significance of these changes is still uncertain, but they may eventually help pinpoint causes. Depression ( major depressive disorder or clinical depression) is a common but serious mood disorder.

It causes severe symptoms that affect how you feel, think, and handle daily activities, such as sleeping, eating, or working. To be diagnosed with depression, the symptoms must be present for at least two weeks. They may include mania or hypomania and depression. Symptoms can cause unpredictable changes in mood and behavior, resulting in significant distress and difficulty in life. Worldwide, major depressive disorder (MDD) is the leading cause of years lived with disability (YLDs) in countries and the second leading cause in another countries.

The unipolar connotes a difference between major depression and bipolar depression , which refers to an oscillating state between depression and mania. Persistent depressive disorder. Sometimes called dysthymia (dis-THIE-me-uh), this is a less severe but more chronic form of depression. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

A disorder that can affect a total of - of the population at any given time, should rise more attention and help to those suffering. Psychotic depression, also known as major depressive disorder with psychotic features, is a serious condition that requires immediate treatment and close monitoring by a medical or mental health. Following is a list of causes or underlying conditions (see also Misdiagnosis of underlying causes of Depressive disorders) that could possibly cause Depressive disorders includes: Familial Psychological - Stressful events, as perceived by the individual - job loss, relationship failure, identity change, natural disaster, learned helplessness.

Additionally, there are a few risk and prognostic factors: 1) Temperamental: Neurotic individuals are more likely to develop major depressive disorder as well as depressive episodes in response to stressful life events. A major depressive episode may occur within the first two to three months after giving birth to a baby. In that case, it may be called major depressive disorder with peripartum onset.

Depression that occurs mainly during the winter months is usually called seasonal affective disorder , or SAD.