Risk Factors For Depression
Being around people with depression and family members who are dealing with depression will lead you to avoiding depression in your own life. Though there are certain ways to avoid depression, there are some risk factors that can lead to depression you may not have considered. These risk factors can be avoided, as long as you know what you are looking for. If you are wondering what factors may put you at risk for depression, consider these examples.
Change of Job
You may think that a job change would be a welcome event, but for some it may not be as welcome as they think. There is added stress with job changes that comes from either a new environment or new tasks that must be taken on. In cases where you have to leave a job and move to a new one, you may experience a loss of income or you may experience a dislike for the new company. These are all work related risk factors that can bring on depression. One of the ways to combat that depression is to try and make new friends, have a support system, or journal about the issues to help you work through them. Others have found that simply keeping an eye out for another job that is happier is also best.
Personal Loss
A personal loss, like a death in the family, can affect you for long after the funeral. In fact, there are some people who suffer from depression that did not realize that the loss of a family member or close friend several years before was actually the cause of the depression. Just keep in mind that personal loss will make you depressed or sad simply by nature. The key is when the depression is lasting, that is when the risk factor has taken hold. You can avoid this by going to grief counseling during the time frame of the loss rather than waiting several months to years.
Surrounding Negativity
One thing you may not contribute to your own personal depression is the surrounding negativity in your life. If you have a lot of people in your life that are not happy, can not seem to get happy, or just focus on the negative aspects of their life then you will start to take on those same traits. Start journaling and looking out for trigger signs of who is doing this in your life. Also, take a step back and look at social media posts that you follow. Look at them from the perspective of an outsider looking in and see if you find too much negativity. If you do, stop following that person or page.
Though there are other risk factors, these are the most common. If you do find yourself in a situation where you face a risk factor, keep in mind you can acknowledge that risk factor and work through it to avoid depression setting in. Using mindfulness, journaling, and meditation are just three of the methods you can use.
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