Depressed individuals, in general, are more likely to adopt a ruminative style of thinking about their situation, rather than taking some concrete action to bring about an improvement. Very often they make mistaken attributions and engage in over-generalisations and self blaming.
Poverty, financial crunch, separation from one’s kin, divorce, accidents, physical or sexual assault, discrimination, or early childhood trauma are some other agents that can be recognised and risk factors.
One trigger that often goes unnoticed and rather results in sorry circumstances due to poor care and attention is depression that stems from being terminally ill.