# Depression From Another Perspective

Not understanding the underlying neurological dynamics of depression can 
create a vicious cycle of anxiety as you may see it as a permanent problem 
rather than a temporary one. This triggers post rationalized beliefs that 
can evolve into suicidal tendencies. People that have considered suicide 
at one point in their lives always look back with a sense of relief as 
they understand that depression is something you are able to recover from. 
Survivors who jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge in the US say what went 
through their minds the moment they jumped is how every single one of 
their problems was suddenly solvable except for the one they had just 
created.

Fortunately, I haven't had to go through depression myself. Outsiders 
sometimes rationalize that it would never happen to them but that's 
because they are underestimating how conditioning and environment can 
mould you. As an outsider, detaching yourself from your story makes it 
easier to be less judgmental as you start looking at depression through 
their lens rather than yours. This same awareness can be used to put your 
own problems in perspective as well. It does require a certain level of 
rationality and mental clarity though, which is harder to attain when we 
are in an emotional state. Saying that most personal problems in our 
society aren't real compared to other problems can make people very upset. 
It makes it look like there is no understanding for their situation even 
if what is said might be true. It requires perspective to stop taking 
things for granted and to be able to experience a sense of relief and 
peace as a result of this awareness. Imagine for example how devastated 
you would be if you'd receive a phone call about a close family member 
dying in a car accident. But if you would then discover that there's been 
a mistake and your family is still alive, you would be ecstatic even if in 
reality nothing has changed. We have the tendency to take the people we 
hold dear and what is most important in life for granted. That is also why 
one of the most successful therapies for depression and even schizophrenia 
has been to let patients take on a role wherein they have to help others. 
It moves neural activity away from what's keeping negative fixations alive 
and shifts it towards the mesolimbic reward pathway, which also lights up 
when we experience pleasure such as having sex or enjoying great food. In 
addition, fMRI scans show that the brain is sensitive to whether we are 
being purely selfish or contributing to the lives of others. As long as we 
feel that what we're doing is right, happiness and fulfillment are almost 
automatic. It makes a lot of sense when you think about it, yet makes you 
wonder how helping others has become a therapy. It is mainly the current 
culture and social conditioning that has made us lose track of what we are 
and what we are designed to do. You won't hear me complain though, if 
helping others is promoted as a way to get rid of depression, it is an 
additional way to stimulate people to help the world move forward.

This is just one of many treatments for depression and doesn't work for 
all kinds. Some are depressed because of a chemical imbalance in the 
brain. One of my better friends, a very stable and happy person, used to 
have moments where he physically couldn't find the energy to do anything. 
If this dragged on for a few weeks, it brought him to the brink of 
depression. As he couldn't find the psychological cause, he visited many 
doctors to take different blood samples and figured out it was a vitamin D 
and zinc deficiency. After supplementing these for a week, it fixed 
itself. Of course this doesn't apply to everyone but it illustrates that 
depression can have biological causes and is not always related to the 
psyche. It's impossible to cover the entire spectrum of causes and having 
your blood taken to analyze deficiencies can come in handy. Asking 
yourself questions to narrow down the underlying problem can also help in 
finding the cause. There are many foods such as refined sugar or junk food 
that can drain your willpower in life. I even know someone whose 
depression was caused by an old, leaking dental filling. That is just to 
say that you can not generalize the cause of depression and that sometimes 
the solution can be as easy as finding the root of it. If you don't find 
it though, it can stay a drag no matter how much you reflect on it.

In the end, having the right mindset can dramatically lower the chance of 
getting depressed since efforts to ensure a healthy lifestyle and helping 
others are more aligned with the current scientific understanding of what 
we are.