Health Conditions

What is it?

Depression is an illness that can cause noticeable changes in your moods, your perceptions of yourself and your environment. There are several types of depression, each varying in the number, severity and length of symptoms.

In real life, depression does not always fall into neat categories. It is sometimes hard to know when depression crosses the line from being a normal reaction to a difficult life situation to being a depressive illness. Friends, relatives, and busy family doctors often miss the symptoms of a major depression, particularly in the case of an elderly person who may have other medical concerns. Depression in an adolescent or teenager may be mistaken for the normal mood swings that seem to happen at this age. This is one of the reasons why clinical depression if often not diagnosed and treated.

• Normal Depressed Mood and Grief
• Adjustment Disorder with Depressed Mood
• Mild Depression, also called Dysthymia
• Major Depression
• Bipolar disorders
• Atypical Depression
• Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
• Post-Partum Depression

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What causes it? >>