Depression is a serious problem and in extreme cases it can lead to a person ending his precious life. This mechanism has not been established, but using data obtained in animals, scientists think the problem is - you guessed it - inflammation.

Depression is a serious problem and in extreme cases it can lead to a person ending his precious life.

Depression is not laziness, not a weakness of will, nor a bad mood. Depression is a very big problem. But in this struggle, there is a huge obstacle before us - we don't know what we are dealing with.

What do you do?

Let's start with a study by Danish psychologist Eiko Fried. He tried to combine all the diagnostic scales that detect depression - after all, they should be interchangeable, right? I think, but I don't.

It turns out that none of the seven main scales can completely or almost exactly correspond to the other. This means that one can go through one scale and then another - the results will be as different as possible.

may be inflammation?

Depression symptoms are likely caused by inflammation. At least, a 2019 study published by American psychologists showed that certain inflammatory markers (C-reactive proteins) can predict changes in depression symptoms.

If there are more markers, you must expect the increase in depression symptoms. Therefore, the authors in the article point out that it is impossible to deal with depression without anti-inflammatory drugs. What else do we need to do with inflammation [3].

In August 2019, a team of scientists from the United States and Denmark conducted a study comparing data on prevalence of mental disorders, including depression, and air quality. It turns out that poor air quality appears to be associated with a higher incidence of bipolar and severe depression in the U.S. and Denmark populations. This mechanism has not been established yet, but using data obtained in animals, scientists believe the problem is - you guessed it - inflammation.

or bacteria?

But not only the air can cause inflammation. In 2018, doctors from the United States published an article in which they showed that one of the causes of inflammation is the absence of worms (yes, worms, we call them worms). Judging from the available data, worms somehow help our immune system (“train” it?), and it successfully fights inflammation. Therefore, a person has fewer problems in psychiatry.

As the researchers pointed out, you shouldn't just be infected with worms - we need a special therapeutic worm to help our immune system but not harm other parts of the body [5].

However, it's not just about worms and inflammation. Belgian scientists published a very disturbing and inspiring article in February 2019.

They found that depression may be due to the microbiome of our gut (formerly known as the microbial community) that can produce too much gamma-aminobutyric acid. It is the natural brake on the brain. If there are many, the brain will "slow down" work: a person doesn't want anything, is not interested in anything, etc. Typical symptoms of depression are obvious.

In contrast, if the microbiota produces a large amount of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, then such people's emotions remain at high levels [7].

All this means that depression may not be due to inflammation, but because the microbiome lives in your kidneys. It turns out that if you regulate its diversity in some way, you can get rid of depression.

maybe it's something from neurons?

As you can imagine, it doesn't end there. Inflammation and microbiota freaks do not explain all cases of depression symptoms. So what's the big deal? In neurons. When neurons "feel" worse, they begin to apoptosis (if simple, self-kill), reduce neurogenesis, worsen plasticity, and increase immune response.

Simply put, the brain starts working worse.

Because our entire mind "flows" from the brain, the deterioration of the brain also deteriorates the work of our mind. We still don't understand what the problem is.

For us, the neurodegenerative process remains a mystery behind the seven seals.Somehow, genes are involved, hormones are involved in some way, but we don't have a complete picture yet.

is like no depression. People are too complex and science is too weak to give us a comprehensive answer. How to deal with

?

First of all, you need to recover, not only study depression with a psychologist, but also with a doctor. For example, the UK National Institute of Health and Clinical Optimization (NICE) research protocol.

Psychologists have achieved some success in the field of fighting depression, which is certainly true - due to collaboration with psychologists, a person's brain is reconstructed and the symptoms of depression are weakened or completely gone.

At the same time, this does not always happen - which encourages researchers to rethink the technology and work directions in the field.

The most important thing is that no matter how much you work with a psychologist, it won't help you if you have inflammation or microbiota problems.

So doctors are required.

What else can you do for yourself besides working with a psychologist and going to a doctor? Strangely, not that little.

1. Move. The easiest way is to walk. It's best to be in a park or in the forest, but your yard or even the kitchen will do. The most important thing is to move, move, and move. This method does not have the highest efficiency, but it does not contain side effects. All studies on this topic show that walking is very beneficial for people with depression.

2. Listen to sad music. This may seem strange, but sad music actually improves the condition of people with depression (i.e. depression, not just sad emotions). The mechanism is not very clear - presumably, such music proves to be a support. When everyone around you asks to pull themselves together, the sad music seems to split a person’s state, telling him that they say, you are not alone, and someone next to you will support you. Research on this topic is just beginning, so it is worth applying this strategy carefully - trying and monitoring your condition. Maybe it's your sad concert out of place. Or, on the contrary, it will make your condition easier [13].

3. Remember the good side. Scientists from the UK have found that if a person remembers well (or remembers), his mood during the day will not decrease much. In other words, his vulnerability to depression decreased and he became better protected. This study was conducted in teenagers and it cannot be considered ideal, but if you remember something good, you won't lose anything [14].

4. Buy yourself a pet (cat or dog). Portuguese researchers conducted an interesting experiment in 2018. They recommend that people who are not treated with medication keep their pets and continue taking medication. What happened? Within a month, people's condition improved. Whether the pet treats itself, or somehow increases the response to the drug is unclear. But the facts are obvious [15].

Last, encouraging news. Depression is a difficult and very dangerous problem. But in many cases, when it passes (alone or with the help of a doctor/psychologist), and after it, a person's life is even better than before. Depression becomes a springboard—a person becomes more alive and happy. Why not everyone is like this, and what these significantly improved mechanisms are still unknown. But the fact itself is already pleasant [16].

Let's summarize it. Depression is a very serious problem and may have the most tragic consequences. Obviously, there are many causes of depression, but we don’t all know it. If a person suffers from depression - it is not laziness, nor weak will, but a disease. You need to work with your doctor to deal with depression and connect with psychologists. People with depression need your emotional support and positive help (for example, letting you take a walk with him) rather than encouragement.

Depression is a very complicated problem.