Can a bad recession cause a bad depression? You bet, especially if the type of depression we are speaking of occurs within the three-pound universe we call the human mind.
Some forms of depression are inherited genetically through families; other forms can be caused entirely by a sick economy. While everyone has their own genetic map suggesting depressive propensities in some people, few can argue with the fact that being out of work and out of hope, can be the source of a long and painful depression – whether you have a genetic propensity for depression or not.
A series of clinical studies have concluded that acute major depression can also occur in people without any family history of depression whatsoever. All it takes is a sufficiently threatening event or set of events to cause a major depressive episode – such as a deep and long economic recession, a lost job, family instability, divorce, and home foreclosure. Add to this the shame often felt by not being able to provide and protect your family and you might find yourself headed for a full-blown depressive episode the likes of which you have never experienced. In short order, you could feel like your entire world is falling apart in front of you.
While most of us understand why a broken economy can be so destabilizing to peoples lives, we don’t always understand what happens to us on the inside as we struggle through life’s troubles and challenges. For this, we must look inside ourselves and seek to understand the complexity and wonder of what makes us who we are.
Nothing is as complex and elusive as trying to understand the human brain. With over one trillion separate neurons, it’s a virtual super highway of neural and synaptic connections firing discreet forms of chemicals throughout the brain which causes us to experience what we know as thoughts, emotions, desires, and moods – including depression.
Just as chemicals play a role in causing depressive thoughts, emotions, desires and moods, chemicals can also play a role in reversing these negative patterns. Today, this is mostly accomplished through a variety of antidepressant medications known as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI). Examples of such medications include Zoloft, Paxil, and Prozac.
While medications can help us fight the experience of desperation, sadness, and indifference, so common to depressive disorders, they won’t, on their own, resolve the underlying real-life financial troubles that resulted in triggering the onset of depression in the first place. For that, we need to use our own problem solving skills and often that includes finding the right kind of financial and legal solutions that can help us get back on our feet again. Remember, nothing lasts forever – not even depression – so as soon as you begin to feel better, it is advisable to start working on managing your financial troubles at a pace that feels right for you.
Most mental health professionals recommend that anti-depressants be combined with some form of talk-therapy with a trained therapist. Antidepressants can perform wonders, but it should not be considered a magic bullet in solving life’s really big troubles. Unfortunately, it rarely, if ever, works that way. What antidepressants can provide is a relative sense of wellbeing that will allow you to get back on your feet and in the game again without the intense emotional drain that is so often caused by serious and untreated depression.
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