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How Depression Reshapes Your Brain: 4 Ways to Reclaim Your Mental Health

Writer's picture: Lauren CohenLauren Cohen

Depression goes beyond just feeling sad or down; it's a complex condition that can lead to significant changes in the brain. While many people are familiar with the emotional symptoms, the physical effects on the brain are just as important to understand. These brain effects can impact your memory, focus, and even how you process emotions. 


In this blog, we’ll go over the physical effects that depression can have on your brain, and how to get help if you're struggling with these effects.


What are the physical effects of depression on the brain?


The link between depression and the brain is complex. Some theories suggest that differences or imbalances in the brain can lead to depression or make it worse. But the opposite can also be true — depression has been found to lead to structural and chemical changes in the brain.


We don’t know yet which comes first: brain differences or depression. But, based on what we know so far, here are some of the ways that depression can physically affect your brain.



Depression can shrink your brain 

One way that depression affects the brain is through a loss of gray matter volume, or GMV. Gray matter is tissue on the outside layer of the brain that holds the largest amount of brain cells, or neurons. In other words, depression can cause parts of your brain to physically become smaller or less dense.  When you lose GMV, your cognitive abilities — which include things like memory, learning, and emotion regulation — are impaired. 


Research has found that depression can decrease GMV in several areas of the brain, including:


  • Prefrontal cortex: This region of the brain is responsible for higher-level cognitive functions including reasoning and problem-solving. Loss of GMV in the prefrontal cortex can lead to poor impulse control, bad judgment, and a difficult time organizing or prioritizing tasks.

  • Hippocampus: The hippocampus is a part of the brain that plays a role in essential functions like emotion regulation, memory formation, and stress. Depression can lead to loss of GMV in this area, which can lead to problems with memory and cause you to be more sensitive to stress and other painful emotions.

  • Parietal lobes: Depression can cause significant GMV loss in the parietal region of the brain, which plays a role in processing sensory information. This may lead you to have trouble processing different stimuli; for example, you might have problems listening to instructions. 

  • Amygdala: While it’s clear that depression causes GMV changes in the amygdala, research has found conflicting results. Some studies found that depression causes a loss of GMV in the amygdala, while many others have found that people with depression tend to have larger amygdala. 


Depression can cause brain inflammation


Research also suggests that there’s a link between depression and brain inflammation. Studies have found that people with depression have higher levels of translocator proteins, which are chemicals that are linked with inflammation. 


But it’s important to keep in mind that correlation does not equal causation, meaning that the relationship between inflammation and depression is complex and goes both ways. 


Depression can lead to worsening inflammation in the brain and throughout other systems of the body. People with depression tend to have higher levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, as well as imbalances and other brain chemicals, which can increase inflammation. 


In addition, people who live with depression are often just trying to stay afloat and cope with their symptoms in any way they can. Reports show that if you live with depression, you may be more likely to engage in unhealthy lifestyle habits, like smoking and drinking, and less likely to keep up with healthier ones like exercise.


Depression can affect neurotransmitters


People with depression can also have structural differences in their brain. Their brain cell activity, just like the way different cells (called neurotransmitters) communicate with each other, can also be affected by depression.


Depression treatment has historically focused on the links between depression and 3 important neurotransmitters: serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Antidepressant medications work by affecting these chemicals in your brain. However, researchers have found that there are over 100 different neurotransmitters in our brains, and that the impact of depression may be a lot more complex than we once believed.


Like inflammation and loss of GMV, the relationship between neurotransmitters and depression goes both ways. While neurotransmitter imbalance could contribute to depression, depression – through avenues like chronic stress and inflammation – can make this imbalance worse.


Depression and your brain: impacts on your life


The physical changes that depression can cause in your brain often lead to tangible impacts on your day-to-day functioning and life. If you live with depression, especially severe and long-term depression, you may experience things like:


  • Trouble with your memory: You might find that it’s hard to recall details or that you’re more forgetful than you used to be.

  • Difficulty focusing: You might experience this as “brain fog” and find it hard to pay attention when people are talking to you.

  • Difficulty learning new things: It could become harder to train your brain to learn new information, even when it’s essential (like at work).

  • Lack of motivation: Because of the way depression can affect the amygdala, you might find it hard to motivate yourself to do anything, even important daily tasks.

  • Emotional dysregulation: Depression causes a loss of GMV in areas of your brain that are essential to emotion regulation. This means that you might have a harder time managing your emotions, which could manifest as emotional outbursts or feelings of numbness.

  • Poor impulse control: Loss of GMV can also cause poor impulse control, making it more difficult for you to delay reward or make sound judgments.

  • Narrow and restricted thinking: The effects of depression on the brain can impact your thinking style. People with depression tend to think more narrowly and rigidly, unable to make broader connections or come up with more creative solutions. (That’s what our mobile game for depression and anxiety, Mood Bloom ™, addresses!)



How to reset your brain from depression


So are these changes permanent? Research has shown that they don’t have to be. Because of studies conducted on neuroplasticity, we know that, especially with the right treatments and interventions, our brains are capable of learning and changing — fundamentally rewiring itself. Even if you’ve lived with the effects of depression for a long time, it’s possible to teach your brain new ways of thinking.

Here are some ways you can work toward reversing the effects of depression on your brain.


Exercise

Exercise is one of the best things you can do for both your physical and mental health. While we tend to think of exercise as something we do to work out our bodies, research shows that it directly impacts your brain as well. For example, exercising releases brain chemicals called endorphins, which block the perception of pain and create a feeling of pleasure or happiness.


Studies have even found that living a physically active lifestyle can increase GMV density in the areas of your brain that are affected by depression.


Find sustainable and fun ways to move your body. You don’t need to hit the gym if that isn’t your style – any physical activity, including walking your dog, swimming, gardening, and dancing, can be helpful.


Meditate

Research suggests that meditation can lead to structural, physical changes in the brain – even in areas that are affected by depression. For example, studies have found that mindfulness meditation can improve the connectivity and communication between neurotransmitters and lead to positive structural changes in the hippocampus even in a resting state (not actively meditating). Another study found that Rajyoga meditation increased GMV density in areas of the brain associated with reward, which led to higher levels of happiness.


There are many types of meditation out there, and it’s important to do your own research and practice to find the type that works for you. In general, mindfulness (vipassana) meditation is backed by the most extensive body of research.


Get professional help


If you live with depression, one of the most impactful things you can do is to seek professional mental health treatment. The importance of this can’t be overstated; the effects of depression on your brain can become worse the longer your symptoms are left untreated. And although we’re continuing to learn more about how to best help people with depression (especially atypical or treatment-resistant depression), there are many effective treatment methods out there. 


There are currently two main treatments for depression: psychotherapy and medication. Therapy for depression, especially cognitive-behavioral therapy and related methods (like acceptance and commitment therapy), is supported by a large body of research. A therapist can help you get to the root of your depression, change unhelpful thinking patterns, and commit to new healthy habits that may help.


Antidepressant medication works by affecting levels of 3 core neurotransmitters: serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Many people find relief from their symptoms with antidepressants, especially together with therapy.


If these two types of treatment haven’t worked for you, there are newer options, including brain stimulation therapies (like transmagnetic brain stimulation, or TMS) and psychedelic-assisted therapies.


Play Mood Bloom


MoodBloom ™ is a scientific research-based therapeutic mobile game that helps you rewire your brain and counteract the effects of depression on your thinking patterns. In the app, you can play unique therapeutic mini-games which are all designed to facilitate a new way of thinking and help you overcome depression.


A clinical research trial found that playing Mood Bloom for just 15 minutes per day reduced depression symptoms by 45% – equivalent to many other expensive and long-term treatments, like therapy and antidepressant medication. 



Takeaway


Depression not only makes you feel down – it can also cause very real structural and physical changes in your brain. But these effects don’t need to be permanent – by getting treatment and using self-help techniques like Mood Bloom, you can reverse the effects of depression and rewire your brain to think in new ways.


Join us today, and start Playing Your Way to Well!


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