Read article Causes of depression
This page is about the causes of depression, and how it can affect you if you have cancer. There is information about
A number of factors can cause depression. The impact of being diagnosed with cancer is enough to trigger a depressive illness in some people. Other life events such as a death in the family, relationship problems, having a baby, or losing your job can start off a depressive illness.
Depression can be linked to a chemical imbalance in the brain. This usually involves a drop in the level of chemicals in the brain called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters take messages from your brain to your nerve cells. The common ones involved in depression are serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine.
Such a chemical imbalance can be triggered by a physical or emotional (psychological) event in your life. Sometimes it is hard to know if it was one or the other. Often both types may play a part.
Some serious illnesses such as cancer and Parkinson’s disease are more likely to cause depression than others. This seems to be because of the physical effect rather than the emotional one. Doctors think this because some other diseases, which are as serious, don’t cause the same amount of depression. We don’t fully understand why this is.
Changes in hormone levels may contribute to depression in some people. The lower levels of some hormones during menopause can cause depression. Many treatments for cancer affect your hormone levels. These include surgery to remove your ovaries and womb, or hormone treatments for prostate cancer or breast cancer.
We now have a better understanding of why some people are more likely to become depressed than others. One reason is a family history.
If you have a close relative who has had depression, you are more likely to get depressed yourself when faced with a period of stress.
Sometimes the chemical changes in the brain that go with depression are long lasting. This means that after recovering from an episode of depression, you are more prone to depression being triggered in the future.
There is information about treating depression in this section.
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