Internal factors

By this we refer to the psychological characteristics that can increase the risk of developing depression. This may be ordinary nervousness, a very negative way of thinking or a passive behavioural pattern.

General ‘nervousness’

Your tendency to becoming nervous or anxious depends both on your genetics and environment. If you are emotionally driven and vulnerable, you are at greater risk of becoming depressed.

If you are generally a very nervous or anxious person, you should try to avoid stress in order to minimise the risk of developing depression.

Negative Thought Patterns
Some people are inclined to think in a negative and pessimistic way, especially when they encounter difficulties.

Negative thought patterns are marked by three things:

• An inclination to take the blame for unpleasant events.
• An inclination to believe that misfortune permeates your whole life.
• A belief that nothing will improve. You believe that you will be subjected to unpleasant events for the rest of your life.

A new American study has shown that young men with a negative way of thinking had a 16 times greater risk of becoming depressed compared to others.

Passive behavioral pattern
A passive behavioural pattern is when you react to adversity by:

• coming to a complete stop
• giving up trying to solve the problems
• escaping the problems

The risk of becoming depressed would be smaller if, in your childhood (or later), you learned how to solve problems, i.e. being active instead of passive. One way of solving problems is to talk about them.

But if you have a passive response pattern, it may be a result of negative thinking. Perhaps you often tell yourself: "I can't do anything anyway". And the reason you think this way might be because you haven't learned how to solve life's problems in an active and constructive way.

A low or unstable self-esteem (which fluctuates up and down aligned with success and adversity) can also increase the risk of developing depression. The same applies to people with a high degree of emotional dependence on other people or people who generally don't trust other people.