The Causes of Depression & Anxiety

by J Bartell

What causes depression and anxiety?  Overload, in most cases is the major factor.  Your brain can only process so much information at one time and people often become overwhelmed by myriad situations/problems  they face in their lives.

If your brain is trying to process too much information, particularly, too much stressful information, it triggers an ancient defense mechanism which causes you to go into fight or flight.  You body triggers adrenaline to help you run or stay and fight, just like a cave man would do if overloaded by bumping into a saber tooth tiger.

Anxiety/Fight Mode:
You can’t get into fights every time your brain is overloaded.  That will get you injured, in deep trouble or both.  So you hold it in and the overload turns into anxiety.  This also can happen when you think too much about the future and the bad things you think could happen.  Anxiety is classically defined as a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.

Depression/Flight Mode:
You can’t physically run away from the overload in your mind, so you “run” or withdraw into yourself, and as you know, when you withdraw and focus only on your problem, it can easily turn into depression.  This really happens substantially when you concentrate a lot on regrets about your past.  Depression is classically defined as severe despondency and dejection, typically felt over a period of time and accompanied by feelings of hopelessness and inadequacy.

A Tool to Fight Overload
Understanding what causes overload is one of your strongest tools in combating anxiety and depression.  Imagine that you have a large pile of bricks in your front yard, each weighing 10 pounds and you have to move all the bricks to the back yard.  If you try carrying half a dozen or more  bricks in one trip, you’re going to hurt yourself, maybe even causing yourself extreme harm.  But if you carry only one or two bricks at a time, you’re more likely able to handle the task without difficulty.  Well the same thing applies to your mind.  Taking on too much mentally can trigger your survival instinct which again causes you to prepare for fight or flight.

I call this tool the Bricklayer Technique.  You need to keep in mind your comfort zone when it comes to dealing with tasks.  Where some people can easily multi-task, 3-4 things or more at a time, others try that and become overloaded.  The Bricklayer Technique is a simple reminder that you need to keep aware of how much you’re tying to take on.  You also have to keep in mind the complexity of a task.

One project may take very little mental effort while another one may be too much for you to take on at one time.  In this case, it’s as if you have a huge solid wall of bricks you have to move.  So what should you do?  Simple.  You should break the wall down into manageable parts and, again, take one or two at a time.  That’s what you should do when faced with an abundance of projects or problems in your life, break them into pieces you can manage at any given time in order to lessen the overload.

Author J Bartell uses neurodevelopment training programs combined with left-right brain learning and subconscious conditioning behavior modification.  Also see Understanding Overload and Unload.

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