Excessive eating or dieting 8. Academic or social thoughts of failure Everyone experiences some or all of these symptoms at some time. Many events and experiences can lead to some form of depression. The most typical causes include feelings of loss, such as the death of a loved one, feelings of rejection, as when our boyfriend or girlfriend wants to break up, and feelings of failure, which might occur when our grades are lower than our expectations. Depression is also known to result from physical causes such as illness and menstruation.
Depression can take several different forms, from mild to severe.
When depression begins to interfere with work and other activities, it is a more serious problem. Moderately depressed people are often functional, but not productive. They interact with others, but do not enjoy themselves. In cases of severe depression, the person may be unable to cope professionally, socially, or academically. This is the strong feeling of hopelessness that things are bad and will only get worse.