Is Depression/Annnxiety from the Bullshit You Experience or are You Prone to it?

[brewer]

Short answer, both. Cause can be singular or in combination.

[ignoramus]

Does stress/anxiety originate in the brain entirely.
Other than physical stress obviously.

Does the mind have control over stressing?
In these cases, do things like yoga, etc work? Or just more woo.

[Jackalope]

Both, almost certainly. Post-traumatic stress is by definition caused by external factors. My other issues are thought to be biological in nature.

[thesummerqueen]

Couldn't say.

Mother tells me I'm the least neurotic of her children, which gives me no hope for my siblings because some days my anxiety is shite.

Depression and anxiety seem to be a combination of external factors and hormonal imbalances. Literally, I do 150% better on birth control, it was simple as that. Off of it, or on a lower dosage of hormones, everything goes batshit - general levels of depression and anxiety rise, I become prone to attacks, etc.

So I stay on BC, keep busy, and lean on my friends. I've developed better coping strategies over the years. When I was first on this forum, I was a mess.

[ignoramus]

CD, but isn't it how the mind "copes" with these external forces ultimately.

Eg: bombs going off are more than just loud! It's the psychological aspect which causes the most damage in eg: PTSD?
just asking because I really have no idea!

[Mermaid]

I can only speak for myself. I am genetically prone, but it's definitely situational for me.

[brewer]

Does stress/anxiety originate in the brain entirely.
Other than physical stress obviously.

Does the mind have control over stressing?
In these cases, do things like yoga, etc work? Or just more woo.

1) Other than physical, my belief is yes.
2) Again, for my two cents worth yes. Not sure about yoga but I have seen other mental therapies/exercises work.

Not sure I believe everything this person has to say but it is interesting.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/557634

This is another interesting read:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/704866

[Edwardo Piet]

What I wonder is other people’s depression/anxiety based on the things they have to deal with or is it something inside them that makes them prone to emotional stress?

It's often both and for me personally it's definitely and specifically both.

After 7 years of being misdiagnosed with Bipolar Disorder my Psychiatrist decided that I don't have a mental illness per se but my mental health is particularly vulnerable to stress. He said although I don't have an identifiable mental illness I am much more vulnerable to stress-induced mental breakdowns than the average person.

So certainly in my case, it is totally based on things that I have to deal with - or rather, fail to deal with hence the breakdowns - but it's also due to proneness to emotional stress...specifically prone enough for it to induce breakdowns.

I am off meds nowadays though and doing better than ever yay!

[robvalue]

I reckon I'm genetically vulnerable to depression. Almost my whole family suffers from it. I think it can probably affect anyone given enough stress, but some people get it more easily and indeed sometimes for no particular reason.

My first bout of depression was the culmination of being emotionally ground down by my parents until I had nothing left. The second was when I got ME, and since that's a situation that's not going away, I'm going to be fighting depression possibly forever now. There is a small chance it may go away eventually. After seeing a wonderful therapist I am coping better than ever before at the moment though.

[Jackalope]

CD, but isn't it how the mind "copes" with these external forces ultimately.

Eg: bombs going off are more than just loud! It's the psychological aspect which causes the most damage in eg: PTSD?
just asking because I really have no idea!

Sure. But the mind's ability to cope is also dependent on external forces as well. Nobody's born with the ability to cope with trauma. It's something we learn, or not - and as the treatment involves the former (learning to cope).

Contrast that to e.g. bipolar disorder where there's an indication that there's a possible hereditary aspect. That's the distinction I was trying to make.