Did you know that over five percent of the entire global population—approximately 360 million people—is struggling with depression? Did you also know that more than seven percent of the 500 million people with hearing problems across the world also suffer depression? There clearly must be a correlation between these two problems. It is, however, very sad that most people don’t acknowledge depression as a serious medical issue, neither do they really care to find its cure, despite the disease ranking among the leading causes of death in the world today. Research shows that some depression cases only require a patient to wear hearing devices and their problem is solved.

I just completed a 12 hour shift. I'm tired. I'm aggravated... It's cold outside... I'm exhausted, and now the key to the back door of my apartment is stuck, and the door won't un-lock. What do I do? Out of frustration, I started kicking the shit out of the bottom of the door, cursing at the same time, while still wiggling the only key I own out of the key-hole. I don't have a spare, because I lost it at work, and was too lazy to go to a locksmith to have a duplicate made. Once the lock unjammed, and the door opened, I entered my apartment even more aggravated than ever. I removed my department-issued gun, and placed it on the end table inside the living room like I always do. I went inside the bathroom to towel myself off from standing in the rain, when briefly, looked in the mirror and saw that my eyes were blood shot.

These past few months have been very draining. Emotionally and physically. Every single day I'm faced with new challenges that sometimes take a lot out of me. I have had my walls broken down and built back up. I have lost people and gained some as well. This is just a glimpse into my life.

I didn't like the person I saw in the mirror. My eyes were baggy with dark shadows underneath. The once bright green of my irises had faded to a dull, sickly color. The whites were now yellow, the blood vessels prominent. My skin sagged off my bones and had a yellowish tinge to it. Where I had once had a slim, toned figure, I was now nothing more than a sack of skin stretched taut over a skeleton.

Depression is a real issue and I feel it is an issue that is not really handled until it is too late.

It’s Friday at 4 PM. Almost time to punch out of work from a hellish week of the same mundane routine. You answer emails and take orders from your boss while you force a smile as if you are happy to be there. But the truth is, you just want to RUN home.

I wrote this in a horrible bought of depression a few months ago. I haven't shared this before, so let's kick off my journey on Vocal with a story of how I sometimes feel.

Okay, so I got a bit carried away in my first post, starting with something as specific as the implication of the immune system in depression. Maybe I should have started with something a bit more general, like the systems involved in depression that have been established for years, and then moved onto more current topics. So that’s what I’m sharing with you today! I hope it’s still interesting to all; at least it will give us a more stable grounding on what depression is caused by. Specifically, you’ll find three more traditional hypotheses that try to give some explanation to the root of depression.