What Causes Depression? What causes depression? Understanding what causes this mental health disorder can help people manage its symptoms. Article Contents Understanding Depression Depression is a common disorder associated with feelings of sadness, anger, and loss. Depression may also create feelings of dejection and low self-esteem. Depression can also be serious enough to interfere with a person’s daily activities up to the point of leading them to want to attempt suicide.1 There are no specific causes as to what causes depression, and several factors