Feeling detached is one of the most unique experiences of depression. The exact definition is slippery, owing to it being deeply subjective. ...

When it comes to diagnosing major depressive disorder (MDD) there is enormous influence from the social environment. ...

One of the most difficult things when you're depressed is getting out of bed. It's often early in the morning that facing they day just seems too much. Everything seems too difficult, on top of this your mind doesn't want to be faced with more decisions as it's already tired and stressed. Everything seems unbearable and unmanageable. This article is written from my own personal experience and also working w ...

Bullying and depression are deeply intertwined experiences. Many people who experience depression have also experienced bullying, either at school, in families or workplaces. ...

The painful and lasting effects of the absent father on mental health and addiction Often people who struggle with depression have an absent father in their lives.  The absent father figure comes up frequently when we document recovery stories, some examples are: Carrie Fisher and Jason Robinson. When the father is absent the likelihood of substance use and depression is greatly magnified. People without fa ...

What causes over-responsibility? Over-responsibility comes from the depressed mindset of not being good enough, and therefore becoming obsessed with not wanting to disappoint and burden other people. This produces a hyper vigilant state of alertness to ensure your work will not be criticised by others.  Often the depressed person craves praise. Ultimately it is driven by an insecure sense of self. The parad ...

Isolation is the inability of an individual to maintain genuine contact with others or society at large. It is one of the key reasons people experience depression and often keeps people depressed. Depression and isolation have rapidly risen during the past twenty years. Isolation is one of the most common factors across a wide range of mental health issues.  It can be hard to break out of social isolation, ...

A recent study by the Missouri University of Science and Technology revealed that the internet habits of depressed people are identifable. In a survey of the student population, Internet use was monitored and correlated with the results of a depression survey. The recognisable signs of people scoring in the greater range of depression are: Increased use of peer to peer file sharing services such as BitTorre ...

Dysthymia Dysthymia (dysthymic disorder) is a chronic depression, although a milder and lower grade type than major depression. It occurs for a longer time, often over a 1-2 year period sometimes longer. The symptoms are not as intense or disabling as major depression although it remains a serious condition and one which requires care and treatment as its consequences are serious, including functional impai ...

Fear is an underlying factor in depression. People who go through mental health problems often harbor a tremendous amount of fear about the symptoms and the repercussions of the condition. ...

Over 200 million people worldwide are unemployed. The prevalence of depression and chronic pain in this population is staggering, especially when focussing on the long term unemployed. ...

Postnatal depression (PND), also called postpartum depression, is experienced by approximately 15%-25% of women after childbirth. Men can also experience this depression although much less frequently. ...

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is an episode of depression that occurs and tends to reoccur during a certain time of year, usually in winter. SAD entails serious mood changes and possible heightened anxiety. It is not a separate disorder to depression and is added as a description to the pattern of major depression or bipolar, otherwise known as a subtype. ...

Anger is not an emotion usually associated with depression, but absolutely essential in the causation and psychogenesis of depression. Therefore beating depression requires a healthy and balanced understanding of what anger is and how one best manages and expresses it without allowing it to fester and cause depression. ...

Bipolar is an extremely serious mental health condition, previously called manic depression, and sometimes referred to as bipolar affective disorder. ...

There are many reasons for the perpetual tiredness people with depression suffer.  One major factor is that people who suffer depression usually have an overactive mind in an under-active body. Depression is quite rightly described as a deadly cocktail of hopelessness and helplessness. Though my own reading and my own recovery story I learnt I wasn’t as helpless as I thought. With appropriate guidance and t ...

Loneliness underpins all mental health issues, and certainly all types of depression cause deep loneliness for many people. Loneliness is an awful gnawing and plaguing sense of unease and separation from the world, and normally gives rise to ugly feelings of separation, disconnection and alienation which in turns breeds resentment, contempt for others, anger, isolation and dejection. ...

Major depressive disorder or major depression, also called clinical depression or unipolar depression, is characterised by a combination of symptoms that interfere with a person’s ability to work, sleep, study, eat and enjoy once-pleasurable activities. ...

Melancholic depression is a hard and distressing type of depression, generally diagnosed amongst older people; it may have a unipolar or bipolar course. It is a relatively uncommon diagnosis. Major depression has five subtypes, called specifiers by the DSM. These are melancholic depression, atypical depression, catatonic depression, postpartum depression and seasonal affective disorder. It is important to a ...