Depression is the most common mental disorder in the modern world. And although it has been known since antiquity, special attention to this pathology began to be paid only recently. This is due to the rapid increase in cases of depression among the population. Moreover, depression is becoming “younger”: it is increasingly common among young people and adolescents.
Causes of depression
Depression is most susceptible to women over the age of 40 years, which is associated with many factors:
- Psychological factors: a change in the role in the family (children grow up and do not require previous protection), loss of loved ones (older women are much more likely to lose their spouse first), leaving their beloved job for a well-deserved rest, deprivation of status in society;
- Somatic factors: with age, the likelihood of various diseases, including severe chronic ones (oncology, pathology of the cardiovascular system) increases, hormonal changes begin;
- Emotional factors: in old age, weather change, change of residence, various psycho-emotional and physical stresses are more difficult to tolerate. With age, physical activity decreases significantly, more time is spent at home, there is a shortage of sunlight - all this contributes to the onset of depression.
Of course, men are also affected by the above factors and are prone to depression, but this happens somewhat less frequently due to lower emotional lability and susceptibility to the changes around. According to statistics, women suffer from depression three times more often than men.
There is an endogenous form of depression, the causes of which are not known, as well as depression caused by taking medications, psychotropic and other substances that affect the psyche and human behavior.
