even the rich & Beautiful

Chrissy Teigan makes a great point in her Glamour article. She has an ideal, if not amazing life, and why should she, of all people, find herself suffering from depression? The truth is depression does not always occur when circumstances are poor or difficult. Yes it’s more often that one may be sad or upset, when things are not going well, when the going gets tough, etc. But this miseducation/lack of education or incorrect attitude towards depression can lead to a delay in obtaining an evaluation and seeking out treatment, as it did for Ms. Teigan aka Mrs. John Legend. She opened up about her post-partum depression after letting herself accept that she could too suffer from this disease.

So let’s delve into why depression can happen even to the most wealthy, most blessed people. It helps to understand how we are using the word “depressed” or “depression.” By medical definition it has to last for atleast 2 weeks and occur most days or most of the time for most days. So a sense of sadness for a day, having an off day, taking the day off to rejuvenate, wouldn’t necessarily be accurately described as having depression. Not to say these can’t occur in Major Depressive Disorder, but like i said, there are many requirements for this diagnosis. Depression may not always include the feeling of sadness, but can include the inability of not being able to enjoy things one once enjoyed regularly. And this is theoretically caused by an imbalance of serotonin, which is a neurotransmitter that gets sent from one brain cell to the next to communicate onwards to other brain cells to essentially make sure the cells are handling emotions the best that they possibly can. The more serotonin you can make or keep in the brain helps more brain cells communicate better.

What causes depression?
It’s often a combination of things, in addition to genetic susceptibility. We often say “nurture vs nature” in medicine in general, but now we say nurture AND nature. How does your environment nurture you, and how much does it attack you? And how much genetic risk do you have to begin with when you were created in your mother’s womb that might be exposed with the environment?

• Risk factors in the environment can be, but not always, and not limited to:
• Abuse: Emotional, Verbal, Physical or Sexual
• Trauma: Anything seen as severely affecting your sense of safety, but not limited to this.
• Loss: Can be financial, educational, occupational, familial, relationship, functions, or abilities.
• Physical conditions: Thyroid, Vitamin D, Heart Attack, Multiple Sclerosis, Aids, etc

Then we look at protective factors. These balance out the negative, hopefully enough to protect you from developing depression. When protective factors outweigh the negative factors, you may not develop depression despite going through some harrowing trials and tribulations.

• Financial Security
• Sense of Belonging
• Freedom
• Pursuit of Happiness
• Successful use of Coping Skills
• Healthy Physical State including a healthy daily balanced diet and regular exercise
• Avoiding alcohol, marijuana, illicit substances

Ofcourse there are many other specific individualistic factors that can be negative or protective. Seeking out an evaluation with a Psychiatrist can help guide you to the right type of treatment, whether that is therapy, or medication, or the combination of therapy and medication.
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{These are my own opinions. For educational purposes only. This information does not replace the need for a psychiatric evaluation by a health care professional.} Image Credit: www.justjared.net Glamour: https://www.glamour.com/story/chrissy-teigen-postpartum-depression

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