Kinda Wonder What Causes Depression Vs Joy

Of course I have felt both.
I live in Wisconsin and live in an area of the most picturesque fall foliage available. This year, because of the rains, the colors are especially vibrant and I relish every drive to and from my house. I thank God almost each time. But there have been times in my life, I made the drive with no notice for whatever reason.
Of course I have my aches and pains and friends and family have moved on. But I feel my joy and depression have more to do with something else than this.
I have explained my theory that depression is a down time one needs to reboot. But I am still curious.

 

Basically, I'd say, it's what is going on in a persons life. We have lots of "joy" with our marriage/being together, but this summer has been pretty depressive due to the virus restrictions and wildfire smoke smell. We moved back here to Colorado, from northeastern Florida, because we missed things we did here in the summer. We did have fun taking our boat out on local lake, but other than that. A number of things we moved back for were cancelled.

 

I think the first thing is to distinguish the difference between Joy and Happiness. It may sound profound but one can be filled with joy but at the very same time be unhappy.

 

One also needs to distinguish between feeling blue, a burnout, and a genuine depression the latter being a medical condition requiring medical treatment.

 

Joy vs. depression could depend on mood and be as simple as a good night's sleep. Happiness starts with feeling good, and feeling good starts with a good night's sleep.

 

I’ve heard / read there can be a link between gut heath and mental heath issues .
I personally like fermented foods / milk kefir so I follow a fermented foods site , it’s all good info to keep in mind ,I don’t eat as the site suggests for good gut heath,
I have the kefir when I think of it and mainly eat the fermented veggies in the warmer months which are just around the corner for us Aussies
https://www.culturedfoodlife.com/articles/

 

To me depression is a very intense word from a mental and physical health standpoint. There are so many situations that can cause depression especially if a situation has been going on for a while that it begins to affect one physically. It's not like a mood swing where you 'shake if off' and bounce back.

 

LOL

 

(This is just from my experience.)

I think it's a good idea to spend some time trying to figure out the reason, when this happens. It's usually some event that triggers it. And you have to understand WHY it was a trigger.

It isn't easy. One has to be totally honest with oneself. Once you figure it out, you have to be willing to take the steps to fix the problem. Not always what you want to do, but necessary for your own peace of mind.

 

I like your theory, Mary, that depression is downtime. It implies that a person will move up the feeling scale once the reboot is complete. Expanding on your theory, I imagine the mind/body/emotions know how much time they need to reboot.
Thoughts are sometimes triggers for me. When I'm aware, I think about something pleasant, and that changes the feeling. That process has required practice! It's easier for me to change depression to a better feeling if I can't identify the trigger. In that case, I focus my thoughts or sight on something I like and my feelings change pretty fast. Of course, the better feeling might not last, but the process is always available to try again.

 

There are some stats that might help out on the depression issue.
I read that the greatest numbers of depression occurs between the ages of 18-20 and with men, only about 9% suffer from depression whilst women have a whopping 19-20%.
Across the board, women at any adult age are 2/3rds more likely to succumb to a depressive state than men.

The thing is, the way the female gender is mentally built, if there were an avalanche the ladies would try to stop it by standing in front of it. Men, on the other hand will move to the side and bring a shovel and take it apart piece by piece after the avalanche is over.
In other words, men departmentalize problems and try to solve them one at a time and whereas women in general will try to solve their problems, no matter how many there are, at one time hence, a higher likelihood of falling into a depressive state.

There are obvious pluses and minuses to both. Men, because we do departmentalize, normally have to be taught how to see the whole picture whereas women, who normally do naturally see the whole picture have to be taught to see the individual parts of it.

Now, are there other reasons for a person’s whole chemistry to get so out of whack that they get depressed? Of course.
I used to be a total perfectionist until I figured out that nothing is ever perfect no matter how much we think it can be accomplished.
Then there’s PTSD and OCD and a bunch of other letters that mean that our brain is out of joint but the main causes of depression do stem from the fact, like the book is titled, “Men are Waffles and Women are Spaghetti”. (by Bill and Pam Ferrel)

 

I believe that hormones are a big part of women's emotional ups and downs, particularly pre-menopausal women.

I have had what I call a "low-level" depression since my brother died in August. A sadness, deep melancholy, coupled with a fresh reminder of my own mortality and peppered with a few regrets.