There are a number of reasons for the occurrence of depression. The illness can be explained from both the physical and the psychological and psychosocial side. In the meantime, in clinical practice, the viewpoint has been established that it is not a case of one side or the other, as several factors are always involved in the development of a depression. This means that depressions can have both physical and psychological causes. The same is true, incidentally, of the symptoms. They can manifest themselves both physically – for example as sleeplessness or lack of energy – or psychologically – for example as sadness or despondency.
Depression often Occurs as a complete Surprise
The causes can range from disposition, traumatic experiences, feelings of loss or physical illness to genetic factors, gender, or even the time of year. It is, however, not always the case that the stressful situations can easily be recognized. On the contrary: serious misfortunes are often followed by natural reactions of sadness, but they do not usually lead to long-term depressive illness. It often happens that people feel depressive without any recognizable reasons – for many the depression comes as a complete surprise.
According to the present state of research the following causes are particularly frequent:
