No Wonder You’re Depressed…Situational Depression Part #5

Understanding the relationship between mood, attitude, and PTSD

Most of us believe that it is the external circumstances and events of our lives that influence mood. The truth is mood is also influenced by attitude. This factor of “attitude” is more than just a psychological state. Attitude is, to a large degree, a response to complex biochemical processes that give one reaction or another greater importance. Luckily, as complex as all of these interacting variables is, science has identified many of the biological conditions that most greatly influence mood changes.

Depression often appears as a response to illness. It is natural for physicians and other health care workers to view depression or stress in patients as a normal and healthy response to life challenging events like a stroke, heart attack, or cancer. However, there is a thin line that separates a normal sense of anxiety, stress, and a feeling of “the blues” from serious clinical depression. Sometimes, in fact, the former may mask the latter. When this is the case, depression may interfere with a patient’s recovery.

According to Dr. Rex W. Cowdry, acting director of the National Institute of Mental Health, “When the depressed mood is fixed and pervasive, and severely interferes with normal function, it’s something that should be recognized and evaluated as possibly a separate clinical entity,” (January 17, 1996, NY Times)