How Electrolytes and Depression Are Related

Depression is a serious condition that could greatly affect the course of human life as it brings down individuals’ moods to levels that make them incapable of doing many daily functions. While most people already have a working idea of what causes depression – trauma, decreased self esteem, psychoactive drugs, hereditary dispositions, among many others, a lot of people are unaware that what people eat, or rather, what people not eat can also cause depression. Little do most know that depression can be caused by having abnormal levels of electrolytes in people’s diets.

What Exactly is Depression?

Depression is basically a state of emotion that is characterized by an unusual degree of sadness, guilt, feelings of meaninglessness, withdrawal from other people, and the suppression of appetite, sleep, sexual urges, or pleasure and interest in normal activities. While virtually all people experience bouts of sadness throughout the course of one’s life, the degree of sadness experienced by people with clinical depression is different. It is way much more frequent, happens for longer periods, and could greatly impair life’s normal function beyond reason.

What Causes Depression?

There are several factors that can cause depression, and sometimes these factors go in conjunction with others. The psychoanalytic view of depression asserts that depression may be caused by an extreme anger, however, it is directed inward instead of outward, resulting into self-abuse, self-blame, and ultimately, depression. The cognitive view of depression on the other hand states that depression is caused by negative views of the self, of the world and the future. These pessimistic views form negative beliefs which forms negative biases towards one’s self, causing extreme sadness.

Biological factors can also cause depression. Hereditary dispositions may make one more inclined to acquire depression – those who have relatives with depression are more like to also have depression than those who not. Hormone or the lack of certain hormones can also cause depression, that is why it is common for women who just gave birth to experience a certain degree of sadness known as post-partum depression.

Electrolytes and Depression

Another biological reason for depression is the abnormal presence or deficiency of electrolytes in the body. Electrolytes are important ionized substances that are found in the tissues, cells and blood. These substances are very important in the body’s performance of daily functions such as the pH balance of the body and the balance of acid-to-base levels. Electrolytes play important roles in the regulation of the neurological system, and such is why their abnormal levels can greatly affect mood and other psychological functions.

Both extreme lack or extreme presence of depression can cause depression. For example, extreme dosages of calcium either due to diet, excessive use of calcium supplements, thyroid disorders among many others, causes hypercalcemia, whose symptoms include depression. On the other end of the spectrum, the extreme deficiency of calcium caused by thyroid disorder, calcium-blocking medication, and kidney failure may cause hypocalcemia, whose symptoms include mood disorders such as depression.

Treatment for Electrolyte-Related Depression

Fortunately if abnormal electrolyte levels can cause depression, such conditions can also be treated by normalizing electrolyte levels. One of the therapies used for depression involves replenishing of electrolytes for particular deficiencies. Conversely, depression caused by extreme electrolyte levels may be treated using neutralizing procedures for the electrolyte or electrolytes at hand.

To know more about the relationship of electrolytes and depression, it is best to consult with a psychiatrist.