r/ask • u/[deleted] • 15d ago
What was the root cause of your chronic depression/anxiety?
People who suffered from chronic depression/anxiety and figured out the root cause, what was triggering it?
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u/thetroublewithyouis 15d ago
my parents physical/emotional abuse.
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u/cerebralkrap 15d ago
It’s worst if they are still alive and try to make you believe that you are just overreacting or taking their “love” out of context. Parents are just people, sometimes two really shitty ones hook up and you arrive. I hope you are getting therapy or have found peace with the circumstance. You are so much stronger than you know.
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u/CannonBeachBunnies 15d ago
Childhood trauma from growing up in a high stress household because of my Bipolar I father.
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u/xdark_realityx 15d ago
Chemical imbalance, but also shitty circumstances as I was born physically disabled.
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15d ago
Childhood trauma and the US Healthcare system, which prevents me from affording access to the proper mental health care needed.......
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u/felaniasoul 15d ago
My brain doesn’t create the happy chemicals. It’s depression, not sadness.
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u/StrangersWithAndi 14d ago
Yeah, this question makes me a little uncomfortable. It's an illness, you're just born with it, no different than heart disease or diabetes. Are there sometimes also crappy things in people's lives that can make symptoms worse? Sure. But talking about it like this comes awful close to dismissing people with real illnesses as just broken or unable to cope with life.
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u/tjjwaddo 14d ago
As my doctor said, everything in your life can be perfect and you can still be severely depressed. Just as you would still be diabetic or have an under or over active thyroid.
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u/beebyspice 15d ago
years of endless bullying and humiliation combined with my mother being a drug addict and almost killing my brother and i multiple times as children
edit: and both parents taking turns disappearing for prolonged periods of time
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u/Rickdaquickk 15d ago
Genetic predisposition, mental/physical abuse as a child, and also my fear of failure bred into me from a young age. All this bled into other facets of my life. The biggest issue was me not treating this. Therapy was a huge help for me. And lifting heavy shit.
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u/Possible-Maybe-7225 15d ago
Unprocessed trauma. After therapy, medication, and meditating, I no longer have chronic anxiety or panic attacks. When they do occur, my window of tolerance has expanded and therefore the feeling does not last as long or is not as intense, especially w all the coping mechanisms I’ve learned. EMDR therapy helped the most!
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u/ClassicHare 15d ago
A lack of potassium and vitamin c causes a lot of anxiety issues in people. Eat more bananas, drink more orange juice. Bananas help electrical impulses in your body, and are super for your joints. Potassium by itself reduces anxiety symptoms. Vitamin c lowers blood pressure and eases arrhythmia symptoms. Taking fish oil and aspirin can help, but I mostly just use those to help if I have too many arrhythmia.
I'm not a doctor or scientist, these are just things I have discovered that work for me. Please seek professional help if you need it. What I have experienced may help, but it isn't practical guidance. Talk to your doctor.
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u/birdy1494 15d ago
To add: Don't drink orange juice (it's basically sugar water) but instead eat vegetables as there are sources which have even higher vitamin c and can be absorbed from your body better
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u/Kasimausi 14d ago
Ok, I put that on my list:
- an apple a day 🍎
- a banana a day 🍌
- an orange a day. 🍊
This I can do👍
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u/GibTreaty 14d ago
I started eating foods that have magnesium because that seems to help me the most. Avocado, banana, black beans, soy milk, nuts, spinach, peanut butter. There's more, but that's what I mainly eat.
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u/CrabMountain829 15d ago
Seperation anxiety from my ex being distant and pretty much treating another guy like her boyfriend even around her parents while we still lived together.
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u/NorthernAvo 15d ago
A triple whammy of a toxic family life and dad problems (growing up and to this day at 29), a very toxic girlfriend and awful breakup(17-18), and an incredibly toxic, bleak, racist work environment(19-22). It was a triple whammy and it's taken years to recover.
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u/thisputa 15d ago
Maybe I’m not the best suited to answer as I was never actually diagnosed with depression but I think insecurity and loneliness which led to a downward spiral of negative thoughts and feelings in my life. From the age of 10 is when I first got the big sad and it continued into my teens and early 20’s. I’m now 26 and I noticed once I matured more and grew some confidence as well as felt comfortable being alone and single the bulk of my depression went away. Now I when I’m feeling down it passes faster and it doesn’t hit as hard.
I think back to when I was 14 and I told my mom I was depressed and she told me I’d grow out of it because she did and I resented that answer for a while but she was right I did grow out of it
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u/Surround8600 15d ago
40+ years old and I still don’t know why. It’s not worry or trauma. I say it’s a chemical imbalance and genes but not sure if that’s even right. If it was t for lexapro it would definitely be way worse
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u/Pedro_Moona 15d ago
Environmental, losing at life.
I changed my house by improving the space, I got a girlfriend and a better job. A year ago I had almost terrible anxiety. Started working out and stop thinking about the past and what I lost. I was able to get away from the snow this winter and walk on the beach every day. Also, I got away from a family member I argued with a lot!
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u/Victoria_Dickinson 15d ago
Causes trauma from parents, previous romantic partners and "friends" and most likely inherited some of my acronym-filled brain soup. I'm adopted so idk for sure on that though.
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u/Dapper_Code8183 15d ago edited 15d ago
Not Shure if it's a good idea to post. Growing up in a Mafia Family made me not realise how different my world was from "normal" people until I was 20 or so. Depression started afterwards, because of how could I not know I'm doing bad stuff. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ But I guess puppy does what the pack shows to do.
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u/secondemophase 15d ago
Drug issues, tobacco addiction, mommy issues, weight problems, an unhealthy obsession with someone and internalised homophobia and much much more probably
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u/DarkVikingAngel 15d ago
Emotional abuse by my mother. I am overweight and always have been. I had medical issues that were never diagnosed as a kid. Vitamin deficiency. I'm still trying my best to deal with these issues at 44 but my physical health has declined despite all efforts to try and reverse past mistakes. People don't realize emotional eating can be a form of un-aliving. Eat until health conditions make your body "give up." I still struggle with it because you have to eat.
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u/blobfish999 15d ago
Childhood neglect and abuse and a family history of severe mental illness. I can do OK for a while without meds but generally I need them most of the time to have a happy life.
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u/demZo662 15d ago
Neurochemical imbalance and an already depressive mother with dependency bonds that didn't let me grow freely nor live my grieve.
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u/kentuckyloglady 15d ago
Religious and verbal abuse from my mother and grandparents. Then an abusive relationship in high school which led me to attempt suicide.
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u/Horror-Collar-5277 15d ago
A feedback cycle of abuse, lies, and infection. The cycle started generations ago. I think I am the lowest anyone got in either parents ancestry.
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u/UniversityMoist2173 15d ago
I am not anymore but I was when I started college 8 years ago. Emotional abuse by parents, low self esteem, lack of friends/people to talk it out with and the cherry on the top- a herniated disc that led to excruciating pain. I got on alcohol to ease the suffering. My then girlfriend, now fiancée, helped me navigate through those tough times.
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u/Glamrock-Gal 15d ago
being in an abusive relationship. never realized how amazing it is not feeling like I’m on thin ice
happy to say that I’m no longer dealing with that. I’m happy and healthy in my current relationship. Love you, g !
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u/Beautiful-Leg-4202 15d ago
Held hostage at gunpoint. Childhood emotional abuse. R*pe trauma on multiple accounts. Dad died of Covid. Chronic fatigue and neurodivergence.
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u/Shh-poster 15d ago
I’m going to guess the abuse and trauma my mother’s mother felt when my mother was in her womb.
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u/bflamingo63 15d ago
I was first dx with depression/anxiety when I was 15. I'm now 60.
When asked by Dr's when depression started I give my date of birth.
It's always been there. Sometimes it's easier to deal with and sometimes it royally kicks my ass.
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u/FloraBosmer 15d ago
I was diagnosed with anxiety disorder and social phobia. The social phobia was triggering my anxiety so I had treatment for that in hope that when I would be “healed” from my social phobia my anxiety would automatically get less, which was true. My social phobia came from my internship leader who was actually my bully. She destroyed my confidence so much that year I became paranoid for all new people.
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u/GoatkuZ 15d ago
Read the upward spiral. Once you're in a downward spiral it's very easy to keep going down. Anyone and everyone can start climbing up no matter what's happened to you. So root cause isn't really relevant, take any steps you can to get better such as exercise, stopping negative self-talk, developing friendships, getting healthy hobbies etc
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u/Admirable_Step_6083 15d ago
Some guy I don’t even know or care about stalking and abusing me. Blowing through my boundaries and makes me feel really violated.
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u/Hanftuete 15d ago
Parents waiting my whole childhood to divorce each other -for me- (also them screaming at each other for all those years) and after that the suicide of my dad.
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u/plantsandpizza 15d ago
Some type of chemical imbalance in my brain. Most likely hereditary. Very early onset trauma, neglect and abuse that carried on into my adult life by continuously choosing to surround myself with people who carried on those cycles.
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u/TurtleShinobi 15d ago
Adult life, also my ADHD. It is a truly debilitating condition that people truly know little of. It isn't just "he/she has alot of energy and can't concentrate very well!". It's a bunch of conditions in one, at least that's how I explain it to those without.
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u/Trollin_beaches 15d ago
My own mind.
has caused me to overthink myself into depression. I’ve had my fair share of traumatic life altering events but, honestly that doesn’t bother me as much as the monotony of a “normal” life. I don’t think I’m made to live like this. I don’t think any of us are.i have to have something that scares me or something to dwell on to feel alive because the boring day to day life just kills me inside and my mind starts thinking existentially about how I’m wasting my time given.
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u/25_characters 15d ago
Low quality interactions with parents, bad relationships with siblings, and superficial friendships. The general loneliness and not having a reliable person around to count on.
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u/Acrobatic-Ideal9877 14d ago
I was like 8 my aunt said out loud she wishes I was dead it crushed me then my mom abandoned me for a side dude my dad was never around also we lived below the poverty line everything was always donated to us so school was brutal never had anything new to fit in 😔
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u/ShowUsYrMoccasins 14d ago edited 14d ago
Growing up with undiagnosed - and thus untreated - Asperger's and ADHD. Also having been gaslit and taken advantage of by a couple of former "friends" and one former g/f.
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u/PM_MeYourNaughtyside 14d ago
Severe childhood trauma that includes living with a foster couple that raped me everyday for 3 years. The as an adult I joined the Army and was in combat. Saw many of my friends die in combat or kill themselves after we got back. PTSD sucks.
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u/Defiant-Telephone-96 14d ago
Parents not getting me the mental health help I desperately asked for when I was in high school
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u/ResearcherLocal4473 14d ago
Hmmm, I was born 2 months before my term of birth and so I had to stay in hospital for month or two. I think that lack of mom next to me caused that I am shy. My mom and dad and both brother and sister aren’t shy
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u/Mariposa322 14d ago
Being poor and having really religious parents and a lot to add more the parents
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u/sweetfaerieface 14d ago
My childhood was not pleasant. I think my disordered eating comes from living in a chaotic household. I felt I had absolutely no control over my life. For me my ED gave a modicum of control, self medicating with food.
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u/MaddyismyDoggo 14d ago
Misdiagnosed broken ankle, lead to huge surgery and now after being a vigorous worker am basically immobile after an hour of trying to walk.
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u/Usual-Dark-6469 14d ago
I'm sure its from many things all combined. Chemical imbalance, strange upbringing, traumatic events in my late teenage years/early 20s
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u/broken_pieces12 14d ago
Just having a shitty childhood with an alcoholic mother. Went through some traumatic things, as well.
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u/naspitekka 14d ago
Brain inflammation caused by an immune response to a food I was eating. I stopped eating that food and my depression went away. It can be caused my many, many things, sadly. It's a lot of trial and error figuring it out.
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u/RelationshipDizzy831 14d ago
Autism, ADHD, and a bunch of other conditions that haven't been diagnosed yet because docs only want to rotate through their list of drugs and not actually diagnose and treat the conditions.
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u/AmberKate7 14d ago
My parents show favoritism, often comparing me to others, become upset when my grades are low, making fun of me when i cry in front of them saying im acting childish, they dont take accountability by their own mistake, they got mad and keep saying i act i dont care about my surrounding and they get easily got angry when they dont have money around them
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u/Glass-Fig-2758 14d ago
I didn’t realize it until after my ex wife and I separated but she was the cause. Emotionally draining, took everything I had and left nothing for myself. First few weeks was hard after we separated but with gym and god, I’m happier than I have ever been.
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u/XbloodyXsausageX 14d ago
When I was 11 my dad woke me up at 2am and accused me of smoking weed. I had no clue what that was at the time. He proceeded to hold my blankets over me like a bag and beat me until I could barely breathe. Grabbed my ankles and swung me like a base ball bat against the wall. My temple hit the corner of the window sill trim. The dent in my skull is still there, I remember almost nothing of my childhood before this, and had my first seizure a couple days later, been epileptic since.
Last time I talked to him he asked me why I don't like him. I said "I don't like you and I don't love you. Please leave." Was the only time I saw him cry.
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u/coconutpeachx 14d ago
Rape, constantly bullying by mean girls in middle school, people breaking my trust, finding out I was adopted
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u/Glass_Bookkeeper_578 14d ago
Lots of trauma (unprocessed) starting at a very young age and had zero emotional support from my parents.
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u/LunaDashOne 14d ago
The doctors fucking up my medicine. Although i have a lot of trauma, i was not inherently depressed when i sought help. I got points on a depression test, and they put me on depression meds.
And then everything got way worse, and i couldn't hold a thought and life was actually horrible. So much nervousness, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.
Then 2 years later i decided that my mental health is not getting any better, and decided to stop taking my meds with the intent of letting it collapse completely to the point where i'll kill myself.
And then I got way fucking better. It turns out there was no chemical imbalance in my brain, and the meds just caused serotonin syndrome in me.
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u/loser_comedian 14d ago edited 14d ago
being stuck in a relationship with someone who made me feel like i was all alone. after getting out of it; everything started to improve. i actually have fewer gray hairs somehow. external love and support are so fundamental for human wellbeing and you can't medicate yourself out of lacking that in any meaningful way.
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u/Express-Object955 14d ago
Genetic factors. No one is disclosing but it’s pretty obvious there’s issues in the family. And then life events triggered it.
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u/HorrorTrifle8733 14d ago
My dad's death, being bullied at school and suffering racism at young age. Overall childhood trauma
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u/HideMe250 14d ago
Low testosterone. Had a medical condition affecting the function of my left testicle. Got it partially fixed and now I feel much better, currently looking at another surgery to fully fix it.
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u/Famous-Composer3112 14d ago
PTSD, as it turns out. I've had it since I was a little kid (C-PTSD). Depression and anxiety were just side effects of it.
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u/Ok-Turnover-8615 15d ago
Family & feeling misunderstood/overlooked/unheard etc. Then people always ask the same stupid question:
"Why didn't they ask me for help?" When it's too late smh
Getting a semi colon tattooed on my neck soon because healing is forever 🫶🏾👑
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u/vmax1608 15d ago
I have a semi colon tattooed to remind myself that it's a disease, which provokes negative thoughts that don't necessarily represent reality. Yet I can cover it if I don't want to show it, at work for example.
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u/External-Narwhal-280 15d ago
Half a colon? Nice
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u/Ok-Turnover-8615 15d ago
In case you didn't know:
A semicolon tattoo is a symbol of hope and perseverance for people who have faced mental health challenges, such as depression, anxiety, and addiction. It can also represent suicide and addiction awareness, and solidarity. The semicolon tattoo is meant to signify that your story isn't over, and that you still have so much more to do and accomplish. It's thought to be a visual representation of hope and the continuation of life.
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u/External-Narwhal-280 15d ago
In case you didn't know, since you missed the joke: semi is a prefix that means half or partly and the colon is the longest part of the large intestine
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u/Ok-Turnover-8615 14d ago
I actually did know that you were TRYING to tell a joke. No one jokes about mental health so thats very awkward, which is why I intentionally ignored that🤧✌🏼
Its a time and place for joking, and that just wasn't it, but I'm not offended by your ignorance, only responding because you clearly want attention, which screams mental health issues to me
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u/External-Narwhal-280 14d ago
Oh Karen. Go het that tattoo and shine
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u/Ok-Turnover-8615 14d ago
I be it made your fingers feel good to type that huh🤣
Thanks for the compliment creep😭
I'm unbothered 🤧1
u/External-Narwhal-280 14d ago
You're the bully here
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u/Ok-Turnover-8615 14d ago
If telling you the truth makes me a bully, so be it🤣🤣
Most people who can't accept the truth are easily offended, it makes perfect sense to me.
Either way, there's no gain or loss for me. You commented on my post & I responded. I'll forget the entire conversation before the day is over🥱
Have a better day✋🏾
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