Nearly 1 in 7 Americans aged 65 and above is diagnosed with a depressive disorder annually, and one of the leading reasons for their depression is stress.
You can be stressed for any number of reasons: money and finances, chronic illness, loneliness and social isolation, boredom, major life events such as the death of a partner or retiring from a job, and problems affecting your children and grandchildren.
Understanding stress and depression
The relationship between depression and stress is a two-way street as either one can give rise to the other. The two health conditions may also feed off each other to create and perpetuate a continual cycle.
Stress is your body’s reaction to difficult situations. It is a fight-or-flight response, and that’s why we often picture a stressed person as looking agitated, with hunched shoulders, tensed muscles, a furrowed brow, and a clenched jaw.
Depression is more often about giving up, and it elicits a much different image. We tend to visualize a depressed person as listless, withdrawn, fatigued, and unable to even get out of bed. (This isn’t always an accurate depiction, though, as some people with depression appear ‘normal’ and can meet all their day-to-day as well as long-term responsibilities adequately.)
What connects these two disparate states of being is cortisol.
Cortisol is a Key Hormone Connecting Depression and Stress
Depression can be brought on by several factors, such as genetics, chemical and hormonal imbalances in the body and brain, improper brain function, and indeed, stress.
Your body produces numerous hormones and one of these is cortisol, a steroid released by the small adrenal glands located above your kidneys.
Cortisol helps your body metabolize — or process — glucose, proteins, and fats into energy. It is also known as the ‘stress hormone’ and it regulates your body’s response to stress by:
- Sending more glucose to your brain to put it on high alert
- Slowing down digestive processes that may be taking valuable glucose away from the brain
- Speeding up your heart rate to send more oxygen to your muscles
In a stressful situation, the amount of cortisol released into your system surges. When the stress is eliminated, the level of cortisol evens out.
Constant Stress Causes a Cortisol Tsunami…
When you are in a state of chronic and constant stress, your body keeps you flooded with cortisol. The excess cortisol eventually weakens your immune system, makes you tired and irritable, and may cause you to gain weight.
None of these is a welcome development. You might find your stress levels rising as you try to cope with these additional stressors, and this heightened anxiety will encourage your body to produce more cortisol.
As stress and cortisol continue to feed off each other, this may eventually become an unceasing cycle.
From Stressed to Depressed
As your stress factors accumulate, your anxiety worsens, and you feel weaker, more irritable, and less energized. You may start feeling overwhelmed. You might struggle to get a handle on things, and you may not always succeed.
Over an extended period of time, this may have a psychological effect of defeat, hopelessness, and helplessness, which transforms into depression.
Where to get help for stress-induced depression
It is very possible to successfully manage depression with the right combination of therapy, medication, and lifestyle changes. In combating stress-induced depression, removing the stress factor may bring about an immediate improvement in your health.
If you are feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope, or if you’re unsure where to start, talk to your healthcare provider. They are always your first step towards healing and will guide you toward the right resources and specialized treatment options that will help you start feeling better.