Increased risk

TESS

There is no simple answer to the reason why you get hit by depression. We know what causes influenza. We can identify the virus. But we don't know exactly what causes depression. However, we do know that depression occurs as an interaction between a hereditary vulnerability, which is congenital, and influences during adolescence.

Genetic disposition

In some families, many family members develop depression. If your parent, child or siblings have had several depressions, there is unfortunately a 20% risk of you yourself developing one or more depressions.

Sex

It is a traditional view that twice as many women develop depression as men. But in recent years, ideas have emerged which suggest that in fact as many men suffer from depression as women. Depressions just show up differently in men. Perhaps many men therefore don't discover that they are suffering from depression and hence don't go to see their doctor. Similarly a doctor can also more easily overlook depression in men. This produces low percentages in surveys. Read more about symptoms in men with depression.

Age

You can develop depression at any age but the risk increases slightly for women between the ages of 40 and 50. Furthermore, the risk of developing more than one depression increases with age. Read more about depression in the elderly.

Social status

The connection between social status and depression is not completely clear. There seems to be an increased risk for people with a low social status to develop depression.

Unemployment

People with depression are unemployed more frequently than others. But we don't know whether this is caused by the fact that you become depressed because you are unemployed or whether you become unemployed because you are depressed.

Psychological trauma

Some people who have experienced psychological strains or trauma react by developing depression. Others develop anxiety or alcohol abuse. But some people manage without any psychological after-effects. Your reaction to a psychological trauma will depend to a large degree on your genetic disposition and your personality. But there are actually surprisingly few events which we can link to the development of depression. It does appear, however, that people who have been sexually abused in their childhood have an increased risk of developing depression. Furthermore, if you develop a depression after severe psychological strain, even psychological strains of lesser intensity may be sufficient to trigger future episodes of depression.

Marital separation

We do not know whether marital separation increases the risk of developing depression. It is a fact that people with depression are more frequently separated from their spouses than others. We do not know, however, whether people become depressed because of the separation or whether they become separated because of the depression.

Bereavement

The death of people close to you seems to increase the risk of developing depression.

Illness

A physical disease increases the risk of developing depression. Nearly all kinds of diseases can lead to depression. This applies both to less serious diseases like influenza or more serious diseases like cerebral thrombosis or cancer. Read more about depression in connection with a physical disease.

Pregnancy and child birth

During pregnancy and the weeks and months before the birth, the risk of developing depression is increased. When you have just given birth, both your body and mind need to get used to a completely new situation. Your hormones need to readjust, and you need to look after your newborn child. This is a period of many changing feelings, and approximately one in ten women develops depression after the birth. Support from those closest to you and from professionals, however, can usually prevent a deep postnatal depression from developing. Read more about postnatal depression.

Stress and depression

Prolonged stress increases the risk of developing depression. Stress is often triggered by situations where more is demanded of you than you feel you can live up to. Many unfinished or insurmountable tasks can often trigger stress. Stress may cause you to feel irritable, tired, in low spirits, insecure, and possibly to have difficulty sleeping. It is also often associated with a series of physical symptoms such as stomach problems, headaches, or muscle tension. If stress continues over a lengthy period, it increases the risk of developing depression.