The latest theory about depression links it to excessive inflammation in the body (which is also what happens in certain autoimmune diseases as explored here).
So what is going on? Why do we have those pesky exaggerated responses that at best give us allergies, at worst depression and psoriasis?
The role of inflammation is to allow our body to fight intruders because most bacteria and viruses don't survive a slight raise in temperature, hence fever and also to multiply our white blood cells faster.
So far, so good. It's a useful system, that works pretty well. But why do some of us (yes, I am one of them) have too much of an inflammatory response, while other people seem to do ok with a normal/"good" level?
Well, there is a genetic component (yes, depression and autoimmune diseases run in families). And that's where it gets interesting and we have to go all the way back to the 14th century in Europe, to the Great Plague.
The pandemic of bubonic plague killed between 30 and 60% of all Europeans alive at the time. And guess who survived? the people with an overactive inflammatory system.
So what gives us depression, Hashimoto's, lupus, neurodermatitis (and the list diseases created or made worse by excessive inflammation is pretty endless) literally saved our ancestors' lives in the Middle Ages.
So now that we know why, let's focus on how we can harness that knowledge.
I'm obviously not giving medical advice here, so ask your doctor, or naturopath, or grandmother (don't underestimate the wisdom of our closer ancestors) on how to lower the inflammatory response of your body. Hint: look at what you eat.
I'm not suggesting that leafy greens (or any other particular food) will make your depression go away. But if the severity of it could be mitigated by reducing the inflammation in our bodies, isn't it a path worth exploring?