Depression

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What you eat affects your mood. In order for your brain to communicate with your body, it needs chemicals called neurotransmitters (such as dopamine, endorphins, tryptophan and serotonin) to conduct electrical impulses or brain waves. Your body has to manufacture these chemicals and it uses the enzymes, amino acids, minerals, vitamins, proteins and carbohydrates in the food that you eat to do that. If you are not eating enough – or enough of the right foods – for your body to manufacture sufficient amounts of these chemicals, depression or anxiety can be the result.

Since mood boosting chemicals like tryptophan and serotonin, the brain chemicals that promote the feeling of well-being get triggered by carbohydrate-rich foods, people who follow extremely low carbohydrate diets also run the risk of feeling depressed. Depression is also linked to a lack of certain vitamins, especially B vitamins, which are connected to nervous system function. A deficiency of vitamin B12 (found mostly in non-vegetarian food) can lead to depression. This depression due to low vitamin B12 count is not only evident in vegetarians but also among people who don’t eat regular meals. People, especially older ones, with low blood levels of vitamin D are also prone to depression. There are a number of ways for low vitamin D levels to affect mood because vitamin D plays a vital role in a number of neurological and hormonal processes. The vitamin D deficiency results in the increased levels of parathyroid hormone which also causes depressive symptoms.

(iii)       Stress – For the onset of depression, stress takes the first place prize. It has long been observed that stressful life events often precede the onset of depression. The disorder has been related to the experience of events beyond our control. It can be anything such as social stress, job dissatisfaction, getting a job, change of job, unemployment, financial problems, staying up late, lifestyle out of control and pressures of schooling. A student who receives low grades in an assignment may feel that his life is useless and that he would fail the entire course. Other events that could cause depression are death i.e. loss of a parent or spouse, moving job and house from one place to another, even the fear of unknown can cause depression. The list is endless. While these events cannot be avoided, we must come up with an effective stress coping mechanism to thrive even in stressful situations because they are never going to go away. Stressful situations just keep changing.