Is depression self inflicted

Some are chemically depressed (bi-polar, for example), but some (as I am) are more depressed by outside influence.

 

You are right. Many mental disorders are defense mechanisms, such as OCD.

 

I believe it's a little bit of both, I find dwelling really leads to hard depression or the thoughtless depression when you literally don't even know why you're upset at all. I've went through phases like this and it's hard to understand why you're so depressed. I also believe many people are clinically ill and cannot control their depression.


Very vast topic I could spend years on but I'll leave it at that for now.

 

Events have effects that make you go downhill, if you lost a loved one, you will be depressed at first, but later on in life, you will be determined to make that loved one you lost proud. Its like a person coming from a different country to raise he/shes kid in a new country for a better lifestyle. When that kid grows up, the parent is going to be like, i came to America for you to have a better education and future, if the parent passes away, the kid is going to strive to make that dreams of the parent come true.

 

This is wrong on so many levels and a common misconception. Everyone has things which can make them feel depressed in their life - nobody has a fault free or incident free life- but their resilience and exposure to failing/bad situations as a person determines how they deal with that or how long they feel that way/have depressive episodes.

Clinical depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain where nothing will make a person leave the permanent state of depression. It can be present in people who've had a normal upbringing and have no other worries like financially, relationship-wise etc. It can be corrected with drugs, the person then feeling somewhat normal again, so that would lead me to conclude that it's the chemical imbalance at fault and not the life situations.

 

No, neither a fleeting episode of depression nor a major depressive disorder are self-inflicted.

Let's start with major depressive disorders, herein, "depression."

The precise triggers for depression are not known, and it is generally recognized that there are multiple factors that can determine how at-risk a person is for developing a depression and how severely they will experience it. Generally though, people most at risk will have experienced some sort of life-changing trauma (eg, combat, sexual assault, debilitating injury) and/or have a history of depression in the family.

Mind you, these are just leading risk factors. Given the lack of understanding about the causes of depression, anybody is at risk.

People experiencing a serious episode of depression tend to experience a lack of control over their thoughts and moods and do not find gratification in activities which once or usually make them happy. This tends to lead them to withdraw from people and social situations, which further aggravates their depressed mood. "Forcing" someone who is depressed into social situations will usually only promote anxiety, exacerbating the depression. Furthermore, people who experience depression find it difficult to break from thought patterns that reinforce their moods. It isn't as simple as, "I would like to stop thinking these thoughts now," as depression tends to convince the sufferer that, in some way, they've deserved the condition.

This is generally why a combination of medication and behavioral therapy are required to help someone out of depression: medication to balance the bio-chemical response to depression and even out the person's mood, and therapy to help them break the cycle of negative thoughts and emotions and gradually make them more comfortable returning to normalized social patterns.

Very, very, very few people who have depression go out of their way to continue to be depressed (perhaps the occasional artist who gets inspired by dark moods, or some few who want to make a non-conformist statement... I guess), or to encourage the thoughts and triggers which promote depression. It is a horrible state to be in, and most people who experience it are gripped with the terrifying thought of, "What if I never get over this?" But the nature of depression, and the stigma attached to mental illness broadly, tends to serve as a barrier to seeking help, thus fueling the cycle.

So no, depression, as a mood disorder, is not self-inflicted. It can be brought on by trauma, medical history, or triggers that we don't yet understand; and people suffering from it by and large would like nothing more than to find a switch to turn it off.

Turning to depression as a transient mood that most people will experience at some point in their lives, this too is not self-inflicted.

Everybody will experience bad periods of time that will dampen their spirits. Nobody who is happy-go-lucky wakes up and decides, "I want to be sad for a little while." The overwhelming majority of these people will get over these periods in a matter of days and continue on with their routines. They might ruminate over the events which caused them to feel depressed, but not for long. It is perfectly fine and normal to experience temporary depressed moods; and most people will get through it without difficulty. Some, though, might lapse into a deeper depression and will need to seek help. It's not there fault though.

 

No. While predisposition towards depression is sometimes "activated" by environmental influences, the rest of the time, depression is triggered by genetics.

 

There is more good in the world than there is bad. I have no clue how someone could be depressed because I think depression is selfish. There is always something that they could change in their life to make it better and if they do not make that decision, they're stupid and lazy. If I wanted to have a nice family and nice house when it comes time, I would be in college like I am and I would study to make something of myself to earn money so I can provide and purchase those things. Sure, there are restrictions on stuff but if you have the will, there will be a way...

 

You're getting "being sad" confused with actually clinically diagnosed depression.

How would you recommend that somebody change their brain chemistry?

Are you literally equating happiness with money and material things? If so, how would you explain Robin William's suicide?

If you have the will, you can overpower a mental disease? If you have the will, you can overpower a broken leg? If you have the will, you can overpower a tumor?

 

I don't agree with this. I'm no doctor, but I've talked to my doctor a lot about the subject.
Depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain, and can actually run in the family.
You don't necessarily have to have something bad happen to make you depressed, it just happens.

"About one in 10 people who suffer from serious depression will also have periods when they are too happy and overactive.
This used to be called manic depression, but is now often called Bipolar Disorder. It affects the same number of men and women and tends to run in families" (source)