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| Depression Summary |  During our life we all undergo episodes of unhappiness, sadness, or grief. There are different reasons which can lead to such feelings. We may feel depressed (some people call this "the blues"), when a loved one dies, or we have a personal tragedy or difficulty such as divorce or loss of a job. Most of us are able to withstand depression.
The majority of us are able to return to our normal activities in several days or weeks. But when these feelings of sadness and other symptoms make it hard for us to live, and when the symptoms last for more than a couple of weeks, we may have clinical depression. The term "clinical depression" is usually used to differentiate "true" depression from "the blues."
Clinical depression includes not only grief or sadness. It is an illness that can prevent you from doing even routine daily activities. Even worse, depression may cause you to think about or commit suicide. Depression is a great problem for both you and your family.
Several different types of mood disorders are recognized:
• Major depression is a change in mood that lasts for weeks or months. Major depression is one of the most dangerous types of depression. It usually includes a low or unrestrained mood and/or a loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities. It prevents a person from normal functioning. A person may have only one episode, but often people experience repeated episodes during the life.
• Dysthymia normally lasts a longer period often several years, it is less severe than major depression. A person can feel normal between episodes of low mood. The symptoms usually do not absolutely destroy one's normal activities.
• Bipolar disorder includes episodes of depression, normally severe, changing with episodes of extreme elation called mania. This condition is known as manic depression.
• Seasonal depression, which medical professionals call seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, is depression that appears only at a certain time of the year, usually winter. It can be known as winter blues. Seasonal depression can be very severe, although it is predictable.
• Adjustment disorder is distress that appears in relation to a stressful life event. It is usually an isolated reaction that disappears when the stress passes. Although depressed mood may accompany adjustment disorder, it is not considered depression.
It is believed that depression is "normal" in people who are elderly, have other health problems, experience setbacks or other tragedies, or have bad life situations. On the contrary, clinical depression is always abnormal and always need attention from a medical or mental health professional.
About 19 million Americans are affected by clinical depression every year. It influences the quantity of suicid es. About 5-10 percent of women and 2-5 percent of men will undergo at least one major depressive episode during their adult life. People of all races, incomes, and ages are effected by depression, but it is 3-5 times more common in the elderly than in young people.
The good news is that depression can be discovered and treated efficaciously in most people. The biggest barrier to overcome is recognizing that someone is depressed and finding proper treatment.
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