Exogenous depression: definition, causes and symptoms

Exogenous depression is a type of mood disorder linked to the inability or difficulties when experiencing feelings of well-being and motivation.

Depression in general, on the other hand, is a spectrum of mental disorders whose symptoms occur relatively frequently; In Spain, it is estimated that it affects 5% of the population. That is why it has received a lot of media attention compared to other disorders.

However, despite the awareness campaigns that have been carried out, many people continue to believe in a highly stereotyped concept of depression. One of the consequences of this is that depression is understood as a totally homogeneous disorder, always associated with the same symptoms.

To account for these variations and nuances, a distinction is usually made between categories such as endogenous depression and exogenous depression. In this article we will talk about the latter.

• Related article: "Are there several types of depression?"

What is exogenous depression?

Exogenous depression is the type of depression

whose causes can be attributed to an event or chain of events related to the way in which the person relates to his or her environment (and to the people in it).

In a more summary way, it is one in which the causes of the disorder are not due to a change spontaneous in the internal functioning of the organism, as occurs in endogenous depression, but that It is caused from outside.

Furthermore, exogenous depression is the most common variant, while endogenous depression, despite not being very rare, occurs less.

• You may be interested: "Endogenous depression: when unhappiness comes from within"

Main causes of exogenous depression

As we have seen, the situations that trigger the appearance of exogenous depression They can be both punctual and continuous over time..

Regarding the most frequent causes of exogenous depression, these are the following:

1. Traumatic events linked to violence

Exogenous depression can be caused by traumatic experiences, typically specific or lasting a few days, which are remembered in the form of flashbacks.

2. Duel

The duel, typically generated by the death or illness of a loved one, is a mental state associated with anxiety problems and, sometimes, can lead to exogenous depression because of the loop of anxiety-inducing thoughts that it produces through rumination and ideas linked to death.

• Related article: "Grief: coping with the loss of a loved one"

3. Divorces and separations

In reality, both divorces and breakups in general can be understood as a type of grief. Ultimately, you lose both a person you love or once loved, as well as a lifestyle that has become fused with your own idea of ​​"I."

4. Poverty and unemployment situation

The problems of subsistence on one's own means not only encourage the appearance of less healthy lifestyle habits, but also They have a deep psychological impact that affects the self-esteem and life expectations.

5. Rejection of one's own physical appearance

Some events result in a change in physical appearance that is very poorly received by those who experience it. For example, the appearance of a scar on a highly visible part of the body, an accelerated process of Aging, alopecia, and certain skin diseases can make some people feel very badly.

• You may be interested: "Gender dysphoria: being born in the wrong body"

Symptoms

Regarding the symptoms of exogenous depression, the most typical are the following, although they do not have to occur all at the same time in all cases.

1. Sleeping problems

Alterations in sleep pattern They are usually among the first symptoms of depression, and trigger many other complications linked to lack of rest and increased stress.

2. Lack of initiative and motivation (avolition)

Avolition is one of the characteristic symptoms of different forms of depression. Those who experience it do not feel motivated by anything and are unable to perform the most basic self-maintenance tasks, such as maintaining personal hygiene, cooking or even attending leisure events.

3. Limited or absent experience of pleasure

Anhedonia, or the inability to experience pleasure, is also another effect of exogenous depression.

4. Subjective state of sadness and episodes of uncontrolled crying

Contrary to what is usually thought, the feeling of sadness does not occur in the vast majority of cases of people with depression, nor does it always have to be present when it appears.

5. Appearance of thoughts about suicide

Suicidal ideation It is also relatively frequent, and sometimes leads the person to plan the chain of events that will end their life.

At the same time, it must be taken into account that depression, in general, can appear with different degrees of intensity, and the same goes for the symptoms associated with it.

A categorization of disorders that has its limits

It is worth keeping in mind that the boundary that separates exogenous from endogenous depression is just a construct. theoretical that exists because it is useful, not because it reflects a differentiation between two fundamentally clinical entities separated.

This is because There is no mental disorder that appears spontaneously inside us: the context always influences it to a greater or lesser extent. To defend otherwise would be to defend a dualistic view of the mind, one in which everything that occurs in nature is connected to each other except ourselves.