Depression is a mood disorder that causes persistent sadness, irritability, inability to sleep and eat well, and much more. Your thoughts start to become very negative, and you feel like there is no hope of getting better. And on top of that, now there’s research that says somehow depression is harming you brain.
Rest assured depression therapy can help.
Without treatment, depression can negatively affect the structure of the brain. Unfortunately, repeated depressive episodes can bring damage to your brain over time. This is all the more reason why it is important to seek treatment as soon as you realize there is something off with your mood. Otherwise, your brain could suffer the consequences and continue to change the way you think, feel, and act.
Yet, these changes can be overturned with adequate care.
If not treated, here are five ways that depression affects your brain.
1. Your Brain Shrinks
The brain has a number of structures that are responsible for your behavior and processing of information. Those structures include:
Hippocampus- responsible for learning, memory, navigating, and perception.
Amygdala- Regulates emotion and memory.
Thalamus- brings information from the cerebral cortex to the brain stem.
Prefrontal cortices- manage attention, impulse control, and emotions.
The severity and the length of a depressive episode can determine the amount these areas shrink. When a section of your brain shrinks, the responsibilities of each section will decline.
Brain shrinkage can be reversible as long as you seek treatment for depression.
2. A Difference in Structure
The central nervous system uses neurotransmitters to send messages between neurons and other brain cells. The neurotransmitters responsible for depression include dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine. An unusual balance between these neurotransmitters can be the cause of a reduction in brain volume that happens when you are depressed.
Brain structure change can be reversible as long as you seek treatment for depression.
3. Changes in Brain While Also Anxious
The amygdala is in charge of our emotions as well as our fight-or-flight response. Fight-or-flight helped our ancestors survive when their lives were in danger. Cortisol levels would rise with the threat of bodily harm, and this response would help them fend off the danger. Despite the lack of continual threats, our bodies still respond this way to anxiety.
When anxiety and depression happen at the same time, the amygdala can actually grow in size. This shows that this co-occurring mental health condition has different effects on the brain than other kinds of depression.
These changes can be reversible as long as you seek treatment for depression.
4. Brain Inflammation
Persistent depression can actually hurt the brain if left ignored. The amount of time you spend depressed can lead to brain inflammation. As brain inflammation causes cells to die, many complications happen, like shrinkage and the inability for your brain to change as you age. Brain inflammation can also reduce neurotransmitters sending messages.
Brain inflammation can be reversible as long as you seek treatment for depression.
5. A Lack of Oxygen
There is one theory that having sleep apnea during depressive episodes is responsible for lack of brain oxygen. This is a sleep-related breathing disorder where the upper airways collapse when you sleep. Fewer levels of oxygen in the brain can occur because of the changes in breathing while feeling depressed.
As the brain is sensitive to oxygen restrictions, you need to make sure it does not go as far as brain cell injury or death. Hyperbaric oxygen chamber treatments can help you get the oxygen your brain needs that depression has depleted.
If you are struggling with depression, a therapist can help reverse the effects of this mood disorder on your brain. You will get a personalized treatment plan to loosen the severity of your symptoms and learn to cope with depressive episodes. If you are looking for a therapist, please contact us for a free consultation. We are always here to help.
Click here to find out more about depression therapy in Colorado. Serving Boulder, Longmont, Denver.
