Does Money and Depression Go Hand in Hand?

There are some people say that "money can buy happiness." Those are the same people that say "hard work never killed anyone." I say that those people never read the story of John Henry who challenged the steam engine and won, but died shortly after from working too hard.

I believe that if you do not have money, then money can be a segway into happiness. I'm sure someone won't be as depressed if they know that they'll be able to afford their rent for the next couple of months. I don't necessarily believe that money is the reason for depression; however. If there wasn't a reason for money to exist I believe that people would still have depression. There are other factors that contribute to depression. For instance, relationships, family, job satisfaction, attitudes on life, etc are all reasons that can affect depression in a person that may not have anything to do with money.

The job satisfaction example is extremely important because there are some individuals that make ridiculous amounts of money, but are not happy in their current employment. The money has nothing to do with why they're depressed. There have been people that have quit their jobs making six figures to go work at Wal-Mart because they did not like their job.

Relationships and family are other examples that can cause depression. If your spouse is leaving you or you lost a family member, that could lead to depression. In fact, getting a divorce and losing a family member are the roots for long term depression.

I believe the issue is people want to make money the reason why people are depressed. I think money is only a symptom of why people are depressed not the underlying cause. For instance, people may think that homeless people are depressed because they do not have money. I believe that the homeless are depressed because they do not have a home or stability. If there was a way to get what you need to survive without money, I don't think the homeless would be as depressed. If a man who was hungry could get a meal without having to work to get the money to pay for that meal, he'd be less depressed.

I believe that people put too much emphasis on money to make them happy. People believe that rich equals happy. This is not always the case, if it was we wouldn't have any incidents where rich and successful people killed themselves. I believe that in life there are going to be things that will cause depression, money just happens to be one of the many things that can lead to depression, but everytime depression is uttered it should not be assumed that money is the cause.