Causes of Depression

The causes of depression can be many: chemical and organic, or psychological and emotional.   

To trigger it can be endogenous reasons , something in the body or mind that gets jammed, that freezes, that loses balance, or exogenous , such as lifestyle and particular and difficult situations, that life itself leads us to go through.

Treating depression can take little – a small adjustment or downsizing of how difficult situations are dealt with, or it may be necessary to seek treatment and specialist medical support.

In any case, depression is a disabling disease , which takes away the joy of living , of loving, of relating , of taking care of oneself , which isolates and flattens the life of those who suffer from it, making every day an ordeal, regardless of what happens.

It’s easy to tell a depressed person what might make him or her feel good, but it’s very difficult to motivate a person with depression to actually take action .

For this, sometimes, a pet can help .

How a dog can help you get out of depression

Although depressed, we are still all human beings , with basic needs and instincts that never go out, even when hope seems lost. 

These needs concern the emotional and physical sphere: physical contact , for example, is necessary for well-being, because with physical contact at a chemical level, the body produces oxytocin, the hormone of happiness.

Movement also helps a good mood , because it increases serotonin levels , and if combined, then, exposure to sunlight allows you to lift your mood.  

Relating , feeling useful and seeing oneself capable of taking care of oneself and others are further basic needs that make us feel good . 

A dog can , simply with his presence, stimulate the people he is entrusted with to meet these needs . A dog can in fact help defeat depression thanks to the following factors: 

• a dog, if you treat him with respect, will give you back the affection you give him a hundredfold. The dog is there and listens to you , gets in tune with your moods and takes action to counteract negative emotions ; 

• a dog needs you , and this helps you to feel useful , indispensable, to make sense of the simple gestures of feeding it, cleaning it and taking it for a walk, as well as petting and cuddling it. And to take care of the dog you are obliged to take care of yourself too , take care of how you feel, the conditions of the house, and your psychophysical state; 

• contact with a dog is reassuring and unconditional : he is there, even if you are sad, even if you pass from sadness to joy in a few minutes, even if you feel ugly and unpleasant. Your dog will always see you as the best person in the world, because he loves you, with all your faults, and with all those qualities that you can no longer see, but which are there; 

• a dog resizes thoughts , taking up that space that is often occupied by brooding: it is in fact difficult to continue to cultivate negative thoughts when the dog needs to eat or go out, or when he wants to play or be pampered; 

• the dog listens to you, does not judge you, stays close to you, responds, in a particular and coded way only between the two of you , to the stimuli you give it, recognizes your voice, your commands, the tones of your mood: this is love, unconditional , and it is only for you, because your relationship has rhythms and codes that no other relationship has; 

• the dog awakens emotions that were thought to be dormant and that depression hides under a mantle of apathy and detachment: tenderness, playfulness, a sense of responsibility, and sometimes even a healthy sadness, the one that unties the knots of the darkest and most alienating depressions , that which removes anger and dilutes it, and which awakens affection for oneself and for others; 

• the dog is an excellent socializer : taking him for a walk facilitates encounters with people, dog owners or even just animal lovers;  

• the dog makes you exercise : yes, this is also a way out of depression. Going out, in fact, exposing yourself to the light of day or the freshness of the evening, walking and coming into contact with the city or with the green, depending on where you live, put your body in motion and you know: moving your muscles often means changing thoughts; 

• on a physical level, the proximity of a dog towards which one feels affection has positive effects, documented in numerous studies: it improves heart health, lowers cholesterol, reduces anxiety and stress, regulates oxytocin, cortisol and serotonin, hormones whose balance is essential to physical and emotional well-being, stimulates the immune system, improves physical fitness .