depression triggers

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Mistaken Belief #3: There's always a trigger

The Truth—"Sometimes there are major life stressors we can pinpoint, but sometimes there aren't," says Lisanby. "I've had patients who say that everything is wonderful and they have no reason to be depressed, but they are nonetheless." Depression with no identifiable trigger is called endogenous depression, and Ian Gotlib, PhD, director of the Stanford Mood and Anxiety Disorders Laboratory, estimates that it happens in roughly a third of cases. A person's first depressive episode may have an obvious trigger, like the death of a friend or family member or overwhelming stress, but the more episodes a person suffers, the more likely it is that future bouts will come on without a precipitating event.