5 Biological Reasons You May be Feeling Sad is a sponsored post written by Jessica Peters. See more about her below.

Contrary to what a lot of people out there believe, depression is not always a purely psychological issue. The effects of depression caused by psychological or biological reasons are identical, but unless you are able to identify the actual source, it would be very difficult to take adequate measures towards controlling the melancholy. Read on as we discuss some of the common biological reasons as to why we feel blue, even when there is no apparent reason to.

5 Biological Reasons You May be Feeling Sad

Menstruation

Hormonal imbalances in the brain and throughout the body are almost synonymous to menstruation for a lot of women, which is unfortunate, but natural up to an extent.

This is the reason why most women experience depression and mood swings in their lives, far more often than men. If it becomes too interfering or overbearing though, that is not natural and medical intervention with adequate dopamine supplementation might be necessary to control female hormonal imbalances.

Pregnancy and Childbirth

Any woman who has been particularly susceptible to feeling sad during periods, is likely to experience depression more intensely after getting pregnant and post-delivery (post-partum depression).

The reasons are once again female hormonal imbalances, similar to what happens during menstruation, but both the ups and downs become a lot stronger during pregnancy and for a few months right after the delivery. The fact that antidepressants and other medications could become contradictory during pregnancy for both the child and the mother complicates the situation even further.

Interrupted Circadian Rhythm

The circadian rhythm can simply be defined as the internal day and night cycle which controls multiple of our body’s processes. During season change, and particularly when it’s winter time, the shorter days and longer nights can be a cause for depression in human beings.

It is considered to be a biological reason because our body’s internal clock gets confused, resulting in abnormal and untimely hormonal secretions, or a lack of them. Therefore, an interrupted circadian rhythm is also characterized by poor sleep, mood swings and lethargy among others.

Nutritional Imbalance or Insufficiency

Both insufficient nutrition and imbalanced nutrition can be a cause for depression. For example, studies show that there is a clear connection between feeling low and low omega-3:omega-6 fatty acids in the body.

A good example of nutritional imbalance induced depression is when children end up consuming too much sugar to first experience a dopamine boost, followed by a severe case of the blues when the rush goes down.

Lack of Sleep

There is actually a very small percentage of people who do not need to sleep half as much as most of us do, due to a rare genetic mutation. For most adults though, 7 – 8 hours of sleep is a must on a daily basis to maintain optimum efficiency levels and stay healthy.

Unless that need is met, the brain cannot recover properly and completely, which is one of the prime biological reasons for depression. Hormones go haywire when regular and proper sleep is not ensured.

What Can You Do About It?

There is a lot you can do to counter depression, whether the reason is psychological, or biological. As Vitamonk explains, there are a number of ways in which we can increase our dopamine levels without resorting to clinical antidepressants right away.

The above link explains in great lengths in describing what dopamine deficiency induced depression is, what exactly is dopamine, how you can hope to increase the hormone’s presence naturally, and a whole range of other common questions regarding the topic.

Having said that, if it’s a biological reason related to a medical condition, the very first thing to do would be to confirm it with the help of a diagnosis from any licensed medical professional. In other words, if you suspect a serious health condition might be responsible for you feeling blue, make sure you visit the doctor and get it checked out.

Jessica Peters is a freelance writer from Melbourne who blogs about health and fitness. Jessica is an avid traveler and regularly crosses the globe to learn about other cultures while blogging from her laptop.