Depression is clearly associated with negative stressful life events and problems in living. Stressful life events have been found to be associated with problems with general health and well-being and research has shown that people report an increased number of stressful life event in the weeks leading up to a depressive episode.
Any change in a person’s environment, even a positive change, can result in the experience of stress.
A major behavioural change or embracing a new lifestyle, the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, or the end of a relationship is often considered to be a significant stressful event. But even positive changes such as marriage, promotion at work, birth of a child, going away to school, or moving to a new home can also cause stress.
Over the course of the next few weeks we will examine the stress response and how we can deal with such stresses.
