7 Root Causes of Depressive Symptoms

Root Causes of Depressive Symptoms

It seems that depression in America is on the rise with no end in sight. In 2017, ten million adults in the United States had some sort of depressive episode. With 15 percent of the American adult population slated to experience depression in their lifetime, it’s time we stop treating symptoms and begin looking at why the symptoms are present to begin with. What is it exactly, that is making our brains behave the way they are? Before we get into the details of the gut health depression connection, let me wow you with a few numbers that just might convince you that widespread depression is not just a coincidence.

Statistically, sixteen million Americans have some sort of depressive episode every year. Additionally, three hundred and fifty million people worldwide struggle with depression. Depression is not alone, as approximately forty million Americans experience anxiety. Between the years of 1988-1994 and 2005-2008, anti-depressant use in America increased by four hundred percent, with an estimated one in six Americans taking some kind of psychiatric drug. This in an epidemic that should not be taken lightly. In fact, many children under the age of two are now receiving anti-psychotic and anti-depressant medications. That fact alone is terrifying.

Symptoms of Depression

Many people today have depression-like symptoms. These symptoms could include malaise, fatigue, flat affect, moodiness, anxiety or even brain fog. A majority of the time, those people walk into their doctor, list their symptoms and are prescribed a “cure-all” medication…an anti-depressant. Most people with these symptoms are desperate for relief, and rightfully so. They end up taking the prescribed medication even though one of the glaring side effects reads “suicidal tendencies”. We could have that debate all day long, but the real question should be WHY does someone have the depression-like symptoms in the first place?

Instead of jumping to pharmaceutical ammo, why not take the time to pick through the causes of negative symptoms? There are dozens, if not hundreds of physical, emotional and environmental factors that can contribute to depression like symptoms. What is the patients’ environment? Does he or she hate their job? Is the person getting too little sleep? Is the person extremely sedentary? Are they exercising too much? Are they consuming a diet made up of artificial dyes, colors, and flavors? Do they have the specific nutrients needed to maintain a healthy brain? Or, my favorite since I’ve been in this situation personally, are they taking multiple medications that could potentially be causing the problem?

ROOT CAUSES OF DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS

Improper Digestion

We are not what we eat! We are what we eat, digest, absorb, and then assimilate. That’s a lot of steps and a lot of places to breakdown. Many people have inadequate digestive enzymes or stomach acid, leaving them unable to fully breakdown and absorb the food they need to thrive. When humans don’t absorb their food, many critical nutrients are lost, such as vitamin B12, folate, protein needed to rebuild body tissues, magnesium and potassium…just to name a few. Nutrient deficiencies leave gaping holes in the chemical machinery needed to have stable moods, all-day energy, and a balanced immune system.

Infections

Without a robust immune response and adequate stomach acid, people are predisposed to hidden chronic infections in the gut. These include, but are not limited to, parasites, H pylori, opportunistic and pathogen bacteria, viruses, and worms. Each has the capacity to turn on raging inflammation and rob nutrients from our bodies, all of which are bad for our brains!

Poor Food Choices

The foods we eat literally build us up or break us down. Most “foods” today are extremely processed, refined, enriched and the furthest thing from real foods. Eating a highly processed diet full of sugar, grains, and dairy has an enormous effect on mood, cognition, energy, focus, and productivity. Choosing better food options helps in the quest for how to restore healthy gut flora.

Toxins

We are exposed to more toxins today than in any other time in human history. The EPA has allowed over 80,000 chemicals into our environment just since World War Two. The average American puts on 13 personal care products per day, most loaded with a toxic bath of chemicals that can disrupt the gut microflora and create chronic inflammation. Not only that, the majority of our food supply has been tainted with pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, artificial dyes and colors, high fructose corn syrup, and GMO foods.

Medications

Dr William Osler, the founder of Johns Hopkins Hospital, once said “The person who takes medicine must recover twice, once from the disease, and once from the medicine”. This is very true, as most medications are extremely harmful not only to the liver but to the neurochemical balance in the brain, as well as the gut lining and gut bacteria.

Stress

Stress has a direct impact on every cell in the body. Rising stress and cortisol levels throw the body into fight-or-flight mode. When in a sympathetic-dominant state, the body is worried about surviving until tomorrow, not about digesting food, controlling inflammation, reproducing. Digestive enzymes decrease, inflammation can rise, and the body becomes catabolic, or in a break-down mode.

Exercise (too much or too little)

Talk about two extremes here! The majority of Americans live a largely sedentary lifestyle, complete with beer curls and remote control presses. These people have very poor motility in the gut, as well as an inflamed environment that allows for bad bacterial overgrowth. On the other hand, you have those who exercise too vigorously. Ask a marathon runner or Cross Fit enthusiast if they work out too hard, and the response is always a resounding “NO”. Although movement is good, too much exercise can be a stressor on the body, leading to leaky gut, or intestinal permeability. This leads to immune-related problems, inflammation, and, here it is again, brain symptoms.

Conclusion

Depression is not simply a mood disorder that keeps to itself up in the brain. Emotional issues and tragic life events are a major contributor to depression, but they are not alone. Before we dispense band-aid drugs like Lexapro and Zoloft, which come with a laundry list of destructive side effects, we need to be looking at diet, lifestyle and emotional factors. When we fix the symptoms from the inside out, we rid the body of the additional damages of unnecessary medications. We fully acknowledge the fact that there is a direct tie between gut inflammation and depression and continue to succeed in our role within functional medicine to eradicate gut health depression.