Clinical depression

TESS

Depression as a disease

Depression as a disease is also called clinical depression. It is a serious disease, where the depressive feeling can become long-lasting (chronic) and can actually have its own life. A person who is suffering from clinical depression either has great difficulty controlling his moods or feelings or has no control over them at all. This person is depressed about almost everything, almost all the time, almost every day for several weeks or maybe months. The depression continues day after day and it affects all areas of life such as:

• feelings
• thoughts
• behaviour
• the body's functioning

If the depression is severe, it can be life-threatening because the person may run the risk of coming to a complete stop, losing his appetite for food and his ability to take care of himself. The person can also feel so low that he may contemplate suicide.

If you are suffering from depression or if you know of anyone who is, it is important to consult a doctor and seek treatment. In so doing, you can actually save another person’s life or your own life.

Different types

Clinical depression may come in different types such as:

• A single depressive episode
• Periodic depressions
• Chronic depression
• Manic-depressive (bipolar) disorder 

A single depressive episode is a depression which will pass and in most cases doesn't recur. Periodic depressions involve episodes of depressions that recur after a period of time when the person has gotten well. In some cases, one depression can be followed directly by another without having any clear periods of being well. In a few cases, depression may be so prolonged that it becomes chronic. In bipolar disorder, depression and mania interchange. The person is feeling either up or down, hence the name bipolar ("between two poles"). A single depressive episode may also be called unipolar, i.e., it only concerns one "pole".