Endogenous Depression

This is a biological depression, which is caused solely by a chemical imbalance, currently exists only as a hypothetical idea. There are people who experienced the illness without any apparent emotional pre-cursor, however this is rare and unrecorded occurence. Endogenous depression is a subject, which is beginning to inspire research.

Endogenous depression is a term, which is also used to describe those patients who do not respond to medication. The theory that depression is 'Endogenous' is a term given to depression that has no obvious cause- that is, was not brought on by a specificlife, event or circumstance, but rather appears to come from nowhere.

Endogenous depression is also called as biological depression and is generally considered to be genetic in origin. This type of depression is usually treated with medication in the first instance although cognitive and lifestyle interventions still have a major role to play.

Endogenous depression occurs even though there is no obvious triggering factor, but the feelings are coming from within the individual.

Treatment of Endogenous Depression

Endogenous depression we could call it biochemical depression. It tends to run in families, as in genetic factors, and is generated by brain chemistry and imbalances of serotonin (its one of the "feel good" hormones that helps us to sleep) or other neurotransmitters. Most of anti-depressant medications prescribed currently are chemicals that maintain or improve serotonin levels. Even the natural approach that utilizes diet,herbs, and amino acids is geared toward raising serotonin levels.

Often though, with endogenous depression, the sufferer has difficulty controlling depressive thoughts and as such, in this situation a very specific form of counselling, CBT or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, is also indicated.