Usually, there is not one single cause for depression. Instead, depression is most often caused by a combination of risk factors that occur at the same time. What are some of these risk factors?
1. Stressful Events
Stress Events occurring in your life can contribute to depression. For example, changing schools, moving to a different city, going from middle school to high school, or getting a new job are all changes in your life which can cause stress. Historically, can you "Imagine" the stress the first African-American students felt entering the Little Rock High School in Arkansas in 1957 in order to end school segregation.
Here are some examples: Unfortunately, some kids lose a parent to death. Sometimes, when parents divorce, the children may not see one parent very often. Breaking up with a girlfriend or boyfriend can be very discouraging . Losing touch with a close friend can leave a person feeling lonely. Historically, can you "IMAGINE" sitting with Coretta Scott King at the funeral of her husband Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Often, the victim feels angry and 
unsafe. Examples of traumatic events include unexpected accidents like car wrecks or being the victim of assault, or being the victim of abuse. IMAGINE that you were Lisa "Left Eye Lopez" (RIP) of the singing group TLC after they went bankrupt after selling a millions of records. The VH-1 documentary entitled "Last Days of Left Eye" is an excellent educational tool for therapists and counselors.
unsafe. Examples of traumatic events include unexpected accidents like car wrecks or being the victim of assault, or being the victim of abuse. IMAGINE that you were Lisa "Left Eye Lopez" (RIP) of the singing group TLC after they went bankrupt after selling a millions of records. The VH-1 documentary entitled "Last Days of Left Eye" is an excellent educational tool for therapists and counselors.
4. Family Conflict such as tension, arguments, upset feelings, and misunderstandings can also contribute to depression.
Parents and teenagers may be angry with each other and everybody feels bad. Family members may have a hard time understanding each other. They may not know how to talk to each other so they end up shouting or avoiding each other. This leads to stress and resentment which may lead to depression. Can you "IMAGINE" how Anne Nicole Smith must have felt after losing her son? Can you "IMAGINE" how her family must have felt knowing she was on drugs?
5. Drug or alcohol abuse can cause depression.
Drugs and alcohol alter the brain's chemistry. They can also cause trouble with family and friends resulting in more agruments, more stress, and a loss of important support from the people that care about you the most. Can you"IMAGINE" how Whitney Houston must feel?
6. A lack of healthy coping skills can put a person at risk for depression.
All 
of us have to cope with stress in our lives. Some people have more stress than other people. It is important for each of us to learn how to cope with stress. You may not believe this, but having healthy habitss, like eating a good diet, having a regular sleep schedule, and getting regular exercise can go along way toward reducing stress. In addition to healthy habits, we all have characteristic ways of coping with stressful situations. Some coping skills are more effective than others. For example, some people clam up when they are upset. Or sometimes teenagers act out their feelings by getting into arguments, or doing things to make their parents angry. It is generally better to talk openly and calmly about your feelings. 
All of the above risk factors can contribute to depression. One way to decrease these risk factors and overcome depression is to improve relationships. As you can see, problems with family members, friends, or teachers make depression worse. Also, when a person gets depressed, he or she may feel hopeless, irritable, tired and unhappy. This can result in more arguments and tendency to withdraw from people. This pushes people away at a time when you need lots of support and understanding. For this reason, a good way to overcome depression is to work on improving relationships. You can do this by improving understanding, communication, and learning how to get the support you need. 
of us have to cope with stress in our lives. Some people have more stress than other people. It is important for each of us to learn how to cope with stress. You may not believe this, but having healthy habitss, like eating a good diet, having a regular sleep schedule, and getting regular exercise can go along way toward reducing stress. In addition to healthy habits, we all have characteristic ways of coping with stressful situations. Some coping skills are more effective than others. For example, some people clam up when they are upset. Or sometimes teenagers act out their feelings by getting into arguments, or doing things to make their parents angry. It is generally better to talk openly and calmly about your feelings. 
Get our new book entitled "A SAD DAY FOR JOSE" now available at http://www.bn.com/ Information was obtained from "The Depression Workbook with additional thoughts by Eric D.Graham
