Philosophy

The research paper mainly discuses the causes of depression among people. It reveals that even though depression is caused by several factors, most of them are associated with social aspects of an individual. Although the research paper argues that it is normal for low feeling to be experienced, it suggests that when such lows become persistent to an individual, he or she might be suffering from depression. This condition can also be caused by other factors such as financial strain, and hereditary and health factors.

Introduction
Feelings of being down at times are normal and they are part of life. However, when despair and emptiness take hold of an individual and fail to disappear, possibly such an individual may be suffering from depression. More than the normal blues depression lows make it quite difficult for one to enjoy and function as he or she once did. Friends and hobbies fade away, one becomes exhausted virtually all the time, and hopelessness and despair feels the life of a depressed individual. Depression is caused by a wide range of factors including social, financial, and hereditary and health factors. However, depression is mainly caused by social factors as opposed to the other factors mentioned. Social life is a very essential part of every individual and thus when social life of a person is not normal, the individual is likely to be stressed and eventually suffer from depression (Belmonte, 2009).

Social causes of depression
Loneliness is one of the major causes of depression. Lonely people have the propensity of taking extended periods of time pondering on negative issues. Such people develop a culture of perceiving things negatively as opposed to having a positive attitude towards different issues. Life as it is is made up of ups and downs. Ones ability to take advantage of the downs and conquer the ups is what eventually makes life fulfilling and worth living. However, lonely people are less likely to see opportunities arising within their environs and thus perceive literally everything badly. When lonely people go through such feelings for extended periods of time, they eventually become possessed by hopelessness, despair and emptiness and therefore end up suffering from depression (Price, 2004).

Social support is very essential to each and every human being it makes people feel liked, loved and wanted by others. Absence of social support is therefore a major cause of depression among people. When people are not supported socially, they tend to feel as if they are hated by others, they are not loved and that they are a burden to other people. They are also filled with feelings of worthlessness as they no longer value themselves. They perceive themselves to be less superior human beings and hence suffer from inferiority complex. Individuals who lack social support eventually become lonely since they avoid mixing with other people. When faced by various challenges do not seek help from others and instead prefer keeping everything to themselves. As a result, they accumulate significant stresses thus making themselves highly vulnerable to suffering from depression (WebMD, LLC, 2010).

A good number of people value relationships and marriages to the extent that issues related to these two aspects are reflected in most of their actions. Marital andor relationship problems are therefore a major cause of depression among people who are married or in love. People, who suffer from depression as a result of relationship or marital problems, are normally significantly affected by actions of their partners towards them. One may hold a firm belief that his or her partner cannot go against his or her will, wishes or what they have agreed among them. When one party breaks the commitment, it might greatly affect the other person to the extent that he or she feels greatly betrayed. There is a wide range of problems associated with marriages and relationships. In most cases they are brought about by one of the spouses and when he or she is not ready to solve them with the other party, the victim might result into loneliness and feelings of desperation and hopelessness which eventually lead to depression (Beck  Alford, 2009).

The social life of an individual starts very early in life before building up to form a solid wall which makes someone to associate more freely with other people. However, there are some children who are rather unfortunate they are brought up in environments which expose them to intense abuse and trauma. This is yet another major cause of depression, which is socially inclined. Children who are exposed to abuse tend to develop certain tendencies of keeping everything to themselves and are thus more susceptible to suffering from depression. Their psychological growth and development is significantly affected by such environments. Such children do not grow and develop normally especially socially as they are filled with numerous fears they cannot get rid of since they do not know how they can (Price, 2004).

Hereditary and health factors
At times, an individual can grow up normally without being exposed to stressful environments, and without being lonely or lacking any social support and still suffer from depression. In such a case, depression can be as a result of hereditary factors. Individuals can inherit genes from their parents which make them highly susceptible to suffering from depression. In this case, depression occurs naturally to an individual and there is less such a person can do to prevent it. However, he or she can seek proper medical attention which can greatly assist him in coping with the situation (Belmonte, 2009).

If a family has a history of suffering from depression, individuals from such a family will have a tendency of thinking they are depressed whenever they experience lows in life. Such modes of thinking can eventually make such people although naturally not suffering from depression to eventually suffer from it. They are also faced by stereotypes that are said about them every now and then by other people within their communities which make them, feel that they have a problem and hence cannot cope well with other people. People from such families may be faced by a normal problem which can be solved easily but due to their attitude towards life, they end up seeing the problem as enormous and unsolvable. As a result, they end up suffering from hopelessness and desperation which eventually makes them to be depressed (WebMD, LLC, 2010).

Health factors are yet other major causes of depression among people. Individuals depending on various factors such as social life, capacity to deal with challenges and their attitude towards life may respond differently when suffering from an illness. The major health factors which cause depression are terminal illness and chronic pain. People suffering from various terminal illnesses such as cancer may lose hope of ever living a normal life. Every time a new day comes it does not bring them any hope or value in their lives, but a source of worthlessness, desperation and emptiness. They spend a lot of time thinking about negative aspects of the diseases they are suffering from and they rarely see any positive thing in their desperate situation. They are aware that their death is very near, which is a major source of constant worry among them. Negative thoughts are usually the order of the day and they finally make them to suffer from depression (Price, 2004).

Most of the terminal illnesses make individuals suffer greatly from chronic pain. At the initial stages, pain resulting from these illnesses can be controlled medically. But as the disease progresses, chronic pain becomes unbearable. Such people end up experiencing significant pain which is beyond their control. Coupled with the fact that the terminal illness will claim their lives soon, this class of patients becomes very hopeless focusing their minds on only negative thoughts which make the situation worse. They are aware that the doctors are not capable of saving their lives making desperation to their greatest companion. Such patients get affected psychologically and their attitude towards life changes drastically, radically and completely for the worse. They end up losing or failing to appreciate all their friends, they no longer have hobbies and value nothing more that life offers. Their lives are filled with desperation, worthlessness and hopelessness, all of which make them to long for their death (WebMD, LLC, 2010).

Financial factors
Having several financial responsibilities without a sound source of capital can lead to depression. People who are financially strained and have to meet certain financial obligations such as paying school fees for their children, hospital bills, house rent and other essential needs are vulnerable to suffering from depression. People straining financially may result to feelings of worthlessness. They feel that they are of much less value if they cannot be able to take good care of their families financial needs. Financially strained people usually become obsessed with negative thoughts that it is not possible for them to meet their financial needs like other people. They end up having a bad attitude towards life which make them less productive and thus earn less money hence worsening an already bad situation. If an individual is subjected to financial strains for extended periods of time, they are likely to suffer from depression (Beck  Alford, 2009).

Underemployment or unemployment can also lead to depression among people. Unemployed individuals besides straining financially due to lack of an income source, they also have a lot of time to think negatively. Such thoughts eventually results into depression, they are likely to view their lack of employment as an indicator that they are less valuable and thus cannot offer good services to potential employers. Underemployment makes individuals to feel that they are being exploited because they are worthless. Most of the underemployed and unemployed people spend substantial amount of time pondering negatively. When such thoughts occupy ones life for extended periods of time, he or she is likely to become hopeless and suffer from depression (Belmonte, 2009).

Conclusion
Depression is caused by several factors all of which have psychological effects on an individual. Most of the factors that cause depression are related to social aspects of an individual either directly or indirectly. Human beings are social animals and should thus remain as much social as possible. When the normal social aspects of an individual are affected, they are likely to become lonely and shy away from associating with other people. Such people develop a culture which makes them to have negative thoughts and attitudes in life which eventually make them hopeless and desperate. Other factors that make individuals to suffer from depression include financial problems, and health and hereditary factors.