by Kristal Mcvicar

Created on: May 30, 2008   Last Updated: March 28, 2012

Perhaps if the term "depression" is clarified then we can better address whether or not society is taking the wrong approach to what is real clinical depression, what is not and redefine the term "depression" as it is used currently to refer to sadness. I suspect though, society is categorizing something as depression when it is nothing more than the normal lows associated with living life.

In preparation for this article I googled "causes of depression" and was shocked to find, in the number one spot, a site that listed the below noted events or conditions as causes:

Family History
Trauma & stress (death, divorce, job loss etc)
Pessimistic personality
Physical conditions (diagnosis of a serious illness)
Other psychological conditions (bi-polar, schizophrenia,postpartum psychosis etc)

Of that list I see only one valid cause of depression and that would be the final one. There are chemical abnormalities that happen within the brains of certain individuals that cause what is real depression. By real depression I am referring to what is now considered clinical depression, depression that is caused by an extreme chemical imbalance in the brain.

The "other" depression is simply what they used to call a nervous breakdown or the blues. New age circles may refer to it as the dark night of the soul or a spiritual awakening. It is a persons inability to cope with the normal day to day things that happen in life. They become overwhelmed with their sadness or pain or stress and simply do not seek out the proper tools to help them through those feelings.

In a society now ruled by the quick fix and instant gratification, it is of little wonder to me why so many claim to be "depressed". In a society where we have become more and more obese and generally less active, it is of little wonder why so many people do not have all the proper distribution of chemicals within their brains. Inertia can do that. In a society where we have structured our lives to be so busy we have stolen our simple enjoyment of the little things in life, destroyed or neglected our relationships and sought out the quick fix so we may achieve more, make more, spend more or keep up with the neighbors, it is of little wonder why we are not feeling joy.

We are a society that has been taught to believe that more stuff will make us happier. If we don't have more, we try to make more and rob ourselves of the simple joys in life by overworking and placing too much pressure on ourselves and in our lives.

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