Depression
Depression: Introduction
Depression, also known as clinical depression, is a serious medical and mental health diagnosis that is associated with many factors, including the balance of chemicals in the brain. Depression can manifest as a large variety of symptoms. It is most often associated with feelings of sadness or despair that do not go away. Depression can negatively affect a person's ability to function effectively in the activities of daily living, such as going to work and school, caring for family, and taking care of basic needs. More than 20 million people in the United States have depression, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Depression is often thought of as experiencing feelings of sadness, "having the blues", or being disheartened. However, there is a major difference between having normal feelings of sadness in reaction to a situation, such as a death in the family, and having depression. Normal feelings of sadness, although painful, generally resolve after a short time. For example, feeling blue after losing a job is normal, and normally the feelings improve or resolve as the situation is addressed, by looking for a new job, going to interviews, and landing the new job. For people with depression, the experience of losing a job is very different. The feelings of sadness linger beyond a short time and intensify to the point that they begin to interfere with the ability to cope with the situation and look for a new job. This in turn can intensify the depression.
Feelings of sadness are also a normal part of the grieving process experienced when a person losses something or someone very important to him or her. For example, nearly everyone will normally experience some level of sadness after losing a loved one. Even very intense feelings of despair can be considered normal if they do not linger past a few days. Although there may always be a residual sadness when thinking of the deceased person, feelings normally diminish to a point that the bereaved person is able to continue on and function effectively in their lives. For other people, the death of a loved may be one precipitating factor in the development of depression or in exacerbation (worsening) of the condition, in which the feelings of despair and sadness do not go away.
Symptoms of Depression
See full list of 80
symptoms of Depression
Home Diagnostic Testing
Home medical testing related to Depression:
- Child Behavior: Home Testing
- Mental Health (Adults): Home Testing
- Mental Health: Home Testing:
- Brain & Neurological Disorders: Related Home Testing:
- more tests...»
Depression: Complications
Review possible medical complications related to Depression:
Disease Topics Related To Depression
Research the causes of these diseases that are similar to, or related to, Depression:
Medical Textbooks Online about Depression
Medical Books Excerpts
- DEPRESSION
- "Algorithmic Diagnosis of Symptoms and Signs" (2003)
- [ read ]
- Depression
- "Handbook of Signs & Symptoms (Third Edition)" (2006)
- [ read ]
- Depression
- "Professional Guide to Signs & Symptoms (Fifth Edition)" (2006)
- [ read ]
- Depression
- "The 10-Minute Diagnosis Manual: Symptoms and Signs in the Time-Limited Encounter" (2000)
- [ read ]
Book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.
Wrongly Diagnosed with Depression?
Depression: Self Assessment Tools
Depression: Medical Mistakes
Depression: Marketplace Products, Discounts & Offers
Products, offers and promotion categories available for Depression:
Depression: Undiagnosed Conditions
Commonly undiagnosed diseases in related medical categories:
Misdiagnosis and Depression
Rare epilepsy can cause a variety of severe emotional and depressive symptoms: The book "Preventing Misdiagnosis of Women" reports on
a case of a woman with severe personality and behavioral symptoms,
and a diagnosis...read more »
High rate of misdiagnosis of psychiatric disorders: The book "Preventing Misdiagnosis of Women" reports
on studies that estimate that 41% to 83% of people...read more »
Physical disorders often hidden causes of depression: It is a common misdiagnosis to diagnose a psychological
or psychiatric disorder, such as depression, when symptoms are
actually caused by an underlying...read more »
Underactive thryoid may be misdiagnosed as depression: Hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid, is an endocrine gland disorder that
is more common in women.
It can...read more »
Adrenal gland disorder difficult to correctly diagnose: Addison's disease, a disorder of the adrenal glands,
causes a variety of symptoms, and is often...read more »
Cushing's disease can be mistaken for depression: Cushing's disease (or similarly Cushing's syndrome) is a possible misdiagnosis for a person
diagnosed with depression.
It is an endocrine disorder with...read more »
Manic-depressive (bipolar) disorder often misdiagnosed: Bipolar disorder, also called manic-depressive disorder, is often
misdiagnosed before reaching a correct diagnosis.
Some of the common misdiagnoses include depression and ...read more »
Calcium disorder a hidden cause of depression-like symptoms: Another uncommon endocrine disorder that
can be misdiagnosed as depression is hypocalcemia (low blood calcium),
which is usually due...read more »
Various mental health symptoms caused by rare epilepsy: Temporal lobe epilepsy is a less common form
of epilepsy that does not have the typical physical seizures.
Patients can suffer from...read more »
Rare seizure-less epilepsy misdiagnosed as various conditions: A complex partial seizure disorder,
such as temporal lobe epilepsy
can be...read more »
Multiple sclerosis often misdiagnosed as mental disorder: The early stages of multiple sclerosis may cause
various general feelings of wellness, happiness, euphoria, or manic-type symptoms
in some patients.
These symptoms may...read more »
Lupus is often misdiagnosed as other conditions: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), often simply called "lupus",
is a difficult disease to diagnose and can manifest...read more »
Rare copper disease insidious and misdiagnosed: Wilson's disease (a form of copper overload) is a rare disorder that
has a slow and insidious onset that can often fail to be diagnosed.
Copper builds up...read more »
Insidious cancer misdiagnosed as mental health condition: Pancreatic cancer is fortunately relatively rare,
but this dangerous condition can be misdiagnosed as a mental condition in its...read more »
Hidden diagnosis of chronic STD: The book "A Dose of Sanity" reports on a case of a many diagnosed
with depression, who was correctly diagnosed with ...read more »
Cluster of diseases with difficult diagnosis issues: There is a well-known list of
medical conditions that are all somewhat difficult to diagnose, and all can present
in a variety of different severities....read more »
Undiagnosed stroke leads to misdiagnosed aphasia: BBC News UK reported on a man who
had been institutionalized and treated for mental illness
because...read more »
Alzheimer's disease over-diagnosed: The well-known disease of Alzheimer's disease
is often over-diagnosed.
Patients tend to assume that any memory loss or forgetulness symptom might be Alzheimer's,
whereas there are many other less severe...read more »
Dementia may be a drug interaction: A common scenario in aged care is for
a patient to show mental decline to dementia.
Whereas this can, of...read more »
Tremor need not be Parkinson's disease: There is the tendency to believe that
any tremor symptom, or shakiness, means Parkinson's disease.
The reality is that there...read more »
ADHD under-diagnosed in adults: Although the over-diagnoses of ADHD
in children is a well-known controversy, the reverse side related to adults.
Some adults can remain undiagnosed,...read more »
Rare diseases misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease: A rare genetic
disorder is often misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease for men in their 50's.
The...read more »
Bipolar disorder misdiagosed as various conditions by primary physicians: Bipolar disorder (manic-depressive disorder)
often fails to be diagnosed correctly by primary care physicians.
Many patients...read more »
Eating disorders under-diagnosed in men: The typical patient with
an eating disorder is female.
The result is that men with eating disorders often fail to be...read more »
Depression undiagnosed in teenagers: Serious bouts of depression can be
undiagnosed in teenagers.
The "normal" moodiness of teenagers can cause severe medical depression...read more »
Undiagnosed anxiety disorders related to depression: Patients with depression (see symptoms of depression)
may also have undiagnosed ...read more »
Subtle changes in hypothroidism can be missed: The early changes in hypothyroidism are subtle
and can be misdiagnosed especially if only a single symptom is dominant. Hence
the list of...read more »
Dementia to be spotted early on: Dementia is an important diagnosis to consider in the
elderly. A vigorous search for a possible cause of dementia is warranted since
there are significant...read more »
Read more about Misdiagnosis and Depression
Depression: Research Doctors & Specialists
Research related physicians and medical specialists:
Other doctor, physician and specialist research services:
Hospitals & Clinics: Depression
Research quality ratings and patient safety measures
for medical facilities in specialties related to Depression:
Hospital & Clinic quality ratings » »
Choosing the Best Hospital:
More general information, not necessarily in relation to Depression,
on hospital performance and surgical care quality:
Depression: Rare Types
Rare types of diseases and disorders in related medical categories:
Causes of Depression
- Depression may be directly related to a significant event in our lives such as losing a loved one, experiencing trauma, or battling a chronic illness. Other caused may involve:
- Pre-menstrual and postnatal hormone changes
- Hormone deficiencies
- Alcoholism
- Drug dependency
- more causes...»
See full list of 13
causes of Depression
More information about causes of Depression:
Treatments for Depression
See full list of 36
treatments for Depression
Latest Treatments for Depression
See full list of 10
latest treatments for Depression
News Archives for Depression
Medical news articles related to Depression include:
Source: HealthDay News
Videos for Depression
How do you know if your bad mood represents something more serious? Learn how to recognize the various types of depression, and what you can do to...
How do you know if you have depression? Learn what's involved in diagnosing the problem, and if your depression is the result of a biological...
Every winter, when the days get shorter, people with seasonal affective disorder, also known as SAD, experience depression. Learn how light can help...
We all know that when we're low or anxious it's hard to sleep. But did you know that sleep problems may also induce depression? Listen to...
See full list of 29 related videos
Patient Surveys for Depression
Prognosis for Depression
More about prognosis of Depression
Reseach about Depression
Visit our research pages for current research about Depression treatments.
Clinical Trials for Depression
The US based website ClinicalTrials.gov lists information on both federally
and privately supported clinical trials using human volunteers.
Some of the clinical trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov for Depression include:
See full list of 822
Clinical Trials for Depression
Statistics for Depression
Depression: Broader Related Topics
Types of Depression
Types of Depression
See full list of 15
Types of Depression
Curable Types of Depression
Possibly curable types of Depression include:
Rare Types of Depression:
Rare types of Depression include:
Stories from Users Related to Depression
Related forums and medical stories:
User Interactive Forums
Read about other experiences, ask a question about Depression, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:
Article Excerpts about Depression
Everyone gets the blues now and then. It’s part of life. But when there
is little joy or pleasure after visiting with friends or after seeing a
good movie, there may be a more serious problem. A depressed mood that
stays around for a while, without let-up, can change the way a person
thinks or feels. Doctors call this "clinical depression." (Source: excerpt from Depression: NWHIC)
Definitions of Depression:
A mental state of depressed mood characterised by feelings of sadness, despair and discouragement. (On-line Medical Dictionary)
- (Source - Diseases Database)
A mental state characterized by a pessimistic sense of inadequacy and a despondent lack of activity
- (Source - WordNet 2.1)
Contents for Depression:
User Surveys and Discussion Forums
» Next page: What is Depression?
Rate This Website
What do you think about the features of this website?
Take our user survey and have your say:
Website User Survey
Medical Tools & Articles:
Next articles:
Tools & Services:
Medical Articles:
Forums & Message Boards
- Ask or answer a question at the Boards:
