Depression is a mental illness that is usually characterized by lengthy periods of sadness and melancholy, say the experts from the medical field of psychiatry.
But just because someone mopes around and hates the world around him or her, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he/she is suffering from depression, but if this kind of behavior, the feeling of emptiness, loss of self-worth and absolute lack of hope for happiness goes on , then, that individual is probably, indeed, depressed. However, there are various types of depression too.
Manic or Bipolar depression is characterized by sudden and extreme mood swings – one minute he or she is euphoric while the next minute (day or week), the same person feels as if he or she is hades.
Postpartum depression is characterized by a protracted sadness and a lengthy feeling of emptiness by a new mother where physical stress during child birth, an uncertain sense of responsibility towards the new born baby are 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 only a nominal similarity with Manic or Bipolar depression wherein the sufferer of this mental disease has a problem with rapid mood swings.
Seasonal Affective Disorder – characterized by being depressed only during specific seasons (i.e. Winter, Spring, Summer or Autumn). However, studies prove that more people actually become ill during the Winter and Autumn seasons. Or they could suffer from mood swings, wherein a person’s mood may shift from happy to sad to angry in quite a short time.
‘Clinical depression’ or ‘major depression’, as some call it, is the actual medical term for depression. Actually, clinical depression is more a disorder than an illness, since it refers to those who are suffering from the symptoms that cause depression.
However, despite it being a real 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 as long as they are treated as soon as they have been diagnosed. Patients who have sought treatment for clinical depression have proven to be very successful in their hopes, given that 80 percent of those treated have found relief from their illness.
If you are looking for 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 offers a lot of useful information, although self medication is very much disapproved of. Clinical depression may not pose as great of a threat as the other types of mental illness, but it is best to leave to the professionals who can safely attend to and cure this disorder.
Doctors now recognize the link between anger and depression, discover more on our site at http://www.anger-management.the-real-way.com/. This article, What is Clinical Depression? is available for free reprint.
