Environment and Mood
Environment includes your personal environment and home, workspace, social environment, and the climate you live in. Mood issues can be triggered by chemicals and molds in the home or workplace, stress and toxicity in your social environment, or low Vitamin D due to lack of sunshine in some regions, or specifically during some seasons when you have less exposure to the sun. Additionally, unknown heavy metals can build up in your body and brain and can cause depression if you have have had exposures through your home or work building, well water, proximity to mining operations or industrial sites, dental fillings, or simply through eating a lot of fish which are contaminated by heavy metals.
What's Causing Your Depression?
When I say lifestyle, what I mean is the basic requirements of life—food, exercise, sleep, stress, and substance use. In short, it means the way you live—too much excitement or stress, too little sleep, forcing your body to deal with constant alcohol, tobacco, drugs, or poor diet. These contributors are the foundation of the chemistry of your body and mind, and will influence how your brain chemistry operates; and they may contribute to episodes of depression along the way if they are out of balance.
Most of us thrive when we keep our pace of life in the slow to medium range. Unfortunately the modern lifestyle doesn’t make this easy for us, because we are often saturated with responsibilities, work, tasks, information, commutes, and expectations to keep up with the pace of others. Depression can develop when dealing with difficult life situations, especially when the situation is long term.
Neurotransmitters are the main chemical messengers of mood, and they include "uppers", which lift your mood and stimulate excitement and activity, and "downers" which calm and relax. Neurotransmitter imbalances are pivotal treatment areas for mood disorders, and they can be tested and treated individually. Imbalances in neurotransmitters can result from many areas, included genetics, gut health issues, and hormone imbalances in the adrenals, thyroid, and sex hormones.
Depression can be a result of several different neurotransmitter imbalances, including serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. The two main branches of depression are serotonin dependent, which presents as a weepy, sad, melancholic 'blues' type of depression; and dopamine/norepinephrine dependent depression, which presents as a tired, lethargic, brain-fogged, and unmotivated type of depression.
Environment and Mood Mini-Course
Did You Know?
24% of people in the US, and 37% of people in Canada have a Vitamin D level of less than 50 nmol/l, which is the minimal amount required for good mood health
Molds in the home or work place can affect your mood, respiratory health, mental clarity, inflammation and immune health
Heavy metal exposure goes into the blood immediately after exposure, but the body sequesters heavy metals in to long term storage sites, mostly the brain and bones, where their presence may interfere with mood.
Chronic exposure to allergens raises your histamine level, which can have an effect on anxiety and OCD symptoms.
Social environment can have an effect on your stress levels, loneliness, and support system, all of which are correlated to higher incidence of mood issues.
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