hey seb,
sorry that wasn't clearer. what I was meaning by a physiological component is that inflammation in the body can cause depressive symptoms in the brain that can be independent of physical pain or psychological aspects.
for example if you take a normal happy person and inject them with inflammatory cytokines they often develop symptoms of depression. inflammatory cytokines were used to treat some diseases which required an increased immune response but often caused depression as a side effect. "Pro-inflammatory cytokines can induce depression in 70% of people treated with such agents."(
http://evolutionarypsychiatry.blogspot.com/2011/12/beyond-chemical-imbalance-part-2.html)
so it is possible for someone with AS with high levels of inflammatory cytokines to feel depressed for no other reason than the inflammatory cytokines in the bloodstream (the physiological aspect) crossing the blood-brain barrier and causing depression in the brain.
as we don't live in a psychologically neutral vacuum it can be difficult to distinguish physiological depression from psychological factors. as sue points out you have to know yourself and be aware of your moods and what affects them so that you can be your own detective. it sounds like you have a bit of stuff going on in your life at the moment that is likely contributing to your current situation.
further complicating matters is that the the gut-brain axis is a two way street. gut health can affect mental health and vice versa. mental health aspects such as psychosocial stress, social isolation and reduced sleep have been shown to increase inflammation along with lifestyle factors such as low exercise and poor diet so it is very easy to get sucked into a viscous cycle of poor mental and physical health.
i'm in the same boat at the moment as I just finished uni and have absolutely no idea what to do with myself. remember that you don't have to figure out what to do with the rest of your life, you only have to figure out what to do next! if it turns out to be crap then you learn from the experience and move onto something else. as sue mentioned, getting out and about and doing stuff and interacting with people is often a good way to get out of a bad patch.
PS that cricket was awesome! i am ashamed to admit i gave up on them on 159/2 and went on the computer. when i went back they were 192/5 and i watched it for a bit then went outside and when i came back they were 199/9! i thought we had it in the bag at that stage and then it turned into a nail biter. great stuff.
