Stress can lead to depression

(CNN) - There is new evidence that stress can lead to depression.

Until last year, Stephanie Modola had always been physically and socially active, but overwhelming stress led to a crisis.

"I moved to a new city and I took a new job. And then I found myself traveling a lot for work and being alone, isolated," she said. "It felt like there was this black cloud following me around."

Psychiatrist Charles Raison says the adversities and pressures of modern life are causing more and more people like Modola to suffer from depression. He's concerned that it's starting to reach epidemic proportions.

"What causes depression really boils down at the end of the day is stress, the psychosocial stress. So, all the things that make us miserable in life," Raison said.

Modola sought the advice of a counselor who helped her develop stress reduction strategies, encouraged her to get back into her exercise routine and re-engage socially. That's when she began to once again enjoy the things she loved; painting, volunteering.

"And finally when it lifted, I remember standing and I thought, 'I didn't realize how bad I felt until I felt better,'" she noted.

Modola says she is determined to not let stress get the best of her again.