Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s 2003 study, National Healthcare Quality Report, revealed very disturbing figures on depression. About 15 percent of the sufferers will eventually commit suicide. Worse, in 2020, if little or nothing is done with this disorder, depression will be one of the leading causes of coronary heart diseases for both men and women. These statistics tell you one thing: you should do something about depression.

One of the best ways to start looking for solutions is to know the causes. What forces a person to feel so weak that he or she can actually think of taking his or her own life? You might be surprised to know about some of them.

You can blame it on genetics.
You are definitely at a higher risk of suffering from depression if someone in your family has suffered from it at some point. It does not matter if it was mild or not. That is why if you sense that you have been habitually crying or feeling uneasy, it is time to seek professional help. You could already be affected by it.

You are not eating right.
A lot of people believe that depression is caused by moods or emotions. What they really do not know is that it can also be caused by physiological changes in your body. The brain has neurotransmitters called serotonin. This is the one that calms and gives you a “happy feeling.” If it is very low, that is when your mood changes and you start feeling really sad. You can increase it, though, by eating carbohydrates.

However, there is a stern warning. Not all carbohydrates are going to be good. If you are sticking with high-sugar food, you are not only making yourself overweight (which is another cause of depression), but you are not increasing your serotonin level as well.

You are not exercising.
Have you ever tried running for at least 30 minutes? There is a good chance that you feel good all over right after. This is because exercise can help raise the level of endorphins in your brain. It then increases your sense of pleasure and euphoria. You would also not really feel any kind of emotional of physical pain.

There could be plenty of other reasons for your depression. It is important that at the early signs of it, you will already seek professional advice. Avoid putting you—and the people around you—at a greater risk because of it.