Depression

Types of Depression

Major Depressive Disorder

People who have major depressive disorder have had at least one major depressive episode (five or more symptoms for at least a two-week period). For some people, this disorder is recurrent, which means they may experience episodes once a month, once a year, or several times throughout their lives. People with recurrent episodes of major depression are sometimes said to have unipolar depression (or what used to be called “clinical depression”) because they only experience periods of low, or depressed mood.

Persistent Depressive Disorder

Persistent depressive disorder (formerly dysthymia) is a continuous long-term, chronic state of low-level depressed mood. The depressed state of persistent depressive disorder is not as severe as with major depression, but can be just as disabling.

Postpartum Depression

Postpartum depression is characterized by feelings of sadness, indifference, exhaustion, and anxiety that a woman may experience after the birth of her baby. It affects one in every nine women who have had a child, and can affect any woman, regardless of her age, race, or economic background.

Bipolar Depression

People diagnosed with bipolar disorder have mood swings involving both lows (bipolar depression) and highs (called mania if severe or hypomania if mild). When people experience the lows of bipolar disorder (bipolar depression), their symptoms are very similar to those that someone with unipolar depression might experience.

Seasonal Affective Disorder

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) typically starts in the late fall and early winter and dissipates during the spring and summer. Depressive episodes linked to the summer can occur, but are much less common than winter episodes of SAD.

Psychotic Depression

Psychotic depression occurs when psychotic features such as hallucinations and delusions are accompanied by a major depressive episode, though psychotic symptoms generally have a depressive theme such as guilt, worthlessness, and death.

Symptoms of Depression

Although depression may occur only once during your life, people typically have multiple episodes. During these episodes, symptoms occur most of the day, nearly every day and may include:

• Feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness or hopelessness.

• Angry outbursts, irritability or frustration, even over small matters.

• Loss of interest or pleasure in most or all normal activities, such as sex, hobbies or sports.

• Sleep disturbances, including insomnia or sleeping too much.

• Tiredness and lack of energy, so even small tasks take extra effort.

• Reduced appetite and weight loss or increased cravings for food and weight gain.

• Anxiety, agitation or restlessness.

• Slowed thinking, speaking or body movements.

• Feelings of worthlessness or guilt, fixating on past failures or self-blame.

• Trouble thinking, concentrating, making decisions and remembering things.

• Frequent or recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts or suicide.

• Unexplained physical problems, such as back pain or headaches.

For many people with depression, symptoms usually are severe enough to cause noticeable problems in day-to-day activities, such as work, school, social activities or relationships with others. Some people may feel generally miserable or unhappy without really knowing why.

There are a number of things people can do to help reduce the symptoms of depression. For many people, regular exercise helps create positive feelings and improves mood. Getting enough quality sleep on a regular basis, eating a healthy diet and avoiding alcohol (a depressant) can also help reduce symptoms of depression.