Depression is a mental disorder that is quite often characterized by prolonged periods of sadness and melancholy, experts from the field of psychiatry say.
But just because a person is moping around and generally hating the world around him or her, doesn’t mean that he/she is suffering from depression, but if this kind of behavior, the feeling of emptiness, loss of self-worth and absolutely no hope for happiness just goes on and on, then, that individual is probably, indeed, depressed. Still, there are various types of depression too.
Manic or Bipolar depression – characterized by sudden and extreme changes in mood where one minute he or she is in an elevated state of euphoria while the next minute (day or week) he or she is feeling as if he or she is in a personal hell.
Postpartum depression – characterized by a prolonged sadness and a feeling of emptiness by a new mother where physical stress during child birth, an uncertain sense of responsibility towards the new born baby can be just some of the possible reasons why some new mothers go through this.
Dysthimia – characterized by a slight similarity with depression, although this time, it’s been proven to be a lot less severe, but of course with any case of illness, should be seen to immediately.
Cyclothemia – characterized by a slight similarity with Manic or Bipolar depression wherein the individual suffering from this mental illness suffers from severe mood swings.
Seasonal Affective Disorder is characterized by depression only during specific seasons (i.e. Winter, Spring, Summer or Autumn). However, studies prove that most people actually fall ill during the Winter and Autumn seasons, which suggests that light plays a role. Or they could suffer from severe mood swings, wherein a person’s mood may shift from happy to sad to angry in quite a short period of time.
‘Clinical depression’ or as some call it, ‘major depression’, is the actual medical term for depression. In fact, clinical depression is more a disorder than an illness, since it refers only to those who are suffering from the symptoms that cause depression.
However, despite it being an actual disorder, clinical depression can be treated very successfully. Doctors are usually very optimistic that patients suffering from clinical depression will soon be well on their way to regaining good mental health if they are treated as soon as they have been diagnosed. Patients who have sought treatment for clinical depression have proven to be quite successful in their hopes, given that 80 percent of those treated have found relief from their disorder.
For those who may be seeking answers to questions related to clinical depression, the depression section of the health center is highly recommended, as well as books on psychiatry and the Internet – which can offer a lot of helpful information, although self treatment is highly frowned upon. Clinical depression may not pose as much of a threat as the other types of mental illness, but it is best to leave it in the hands of professionals who can safely attend to and cure this disorder.
Doctors now recognize the link between anger and depression, find out more on our website at Treating Depression Don’t reprint this exact article. Instead, reprint a free unique content version of this same article.