How depression is linked to brain damage
We all know depression as a common mental illness, which is a continuous cycle of misery, sadness, and loss of interest. We are aware that it is a disorder that intensely affects a person’s emotions, thoughts, and behavior and can be associated with feelings of guilt, anxiety, irritability, and frequent suicidal thoughts, etc. These are only a few of the common symptoms. The impact of depression on our brain is more convoluted than we might think and holds the potential to cause permanent physical damage to our brains.
During depression, many brain circuits that are normally responsible for regulating mood are dysregulated. The amygdala is a structure present in the brain between the temporal lobes of the cerebrum. It controls emotional responses by processing highly salient stimuli. The amygdala connects to the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus.
The prefrontal cortex controls how strongly we react to emotional stimuli. Depression leads to the amygdala being overreactive, which causes it to respond excessively to negative events. Since the prefrontal cortex is extremely vulnerable to stress, this may cause inappropriate responses to emotional events.
The hippocampus, on the other hand, stores memory and controls the production of cortisol. Long-term exposure to high cortisol levels slows down the production of new neurons and causes neurons in the hippocampus to shrink. This justifies why depressed people have bad memory or are unable to recall significant portions of trauma they have experienced. When there are high levels of cortisol, the prefrontal cortex also shrinks.
The amygdala facilitates emotional responses like pleasure and fear. During depression, due to high production levels of cortisol, the amygdala becomes enlarged and more active. An overactive and enlarged amygdala results in sleep disturbances and disrupted activity patterns.
The thalamus is another part of the brain that is affected during depression. It helps link sensory information to positive and negative feelings. Problems in the thalamus can be linked to conditions such as bipolar disorder and can disrupt hormone regulation. Two hormones that are most prone to being affected by depression are serotonin (which regulates sleep and mood) and norepinephrine (which affects motivation).
It is also proven that depression causes grey matter abnormalities within the brain. Grey matter refers to tissue made up of nerve cells and other cell bodies. People with depression are shown to have thicker grey matter in certain areas of their brain. This abnormality could contribute to the problems someone with depression experiences, linked to self-esteem and emotion.
The number of people diagnosed with depression increases by 20% each year. It often goes unnoticed and should be given the same amount of attention and value as physical illnesses. It is also proven that the mental pain of depression is exponentially more intense than that of physical illnesses.
"I would rather have my arm cut off without anesthesia than go through the pain that I am experiencing right now." – William Styron
Depression is very common in teenagers and is curable, provided the right combination of effective treatments is found. It is requisite to increase accessibility and availability for treatment by raising awareness and giving the same amount of significance to the treatment of physical and mental illnesses. This can prevent people from turning to other alternatives such as alcohol and drug addiction, which only worsen mental illnesses.
