WHAT IS DEPRESSION ?
What is depression? Depression is part of a category of mental health conditions called mood disorders.
Mood disorders are a group of mental health conditions that are caused by emotional disorder and include but are not limited to depression, dysthymia, and bipolar disorder. People with these conditions might experience extreme lows like in depression and/or extreme highs, called mania, experienced in bipolar disorders.
It’s important to understand that not every depression is identical. It can show up in different forms and can range from mild to moderate to severe. There are also specific types of depression, such as seasonal affective disorder, postpartum depression, and perinatal depression.
Even if it’s not a major depressive episode, children and adolescents can still experience dysthymia. It’s crucial to address and seek support also for dysthymia because it can eventually lead to more severe depression if left untreated.
Characteristics of Different Types of Mood Disorders and Depression
Major depression: also called major depressive disorder, marked by feeling sad and uninterested in things for more than two weeks straight. It can make it hard to do everyday tasks and can affect sleep, eating, energy, focus, and self-esteem.
Seasonal affective disorder: occurring during certain seasons of the year, usually in fall and winter and mostly beginning and ending at the same time of the year.
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD): a severe form of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). It brings intense mood swings, irritability, and tension, disrupting daily life. Like PMS, it starts a week or two before your period. Typical PMS symptoms include bloating, food cravings, and breast tenderness, but mood swings are less severe than in PMDD. For more information visit womenshealth.gov.
Postpartum depression: happens after having a baby. It brings strong feelings of sadness, worry, crying, trouble sleeping, tiredness, and sometimes feeling indifferent. Unlike the “baby blues” which goes away quickly, postpartum depression lasts for more than two weeks and can affect daily life. With treatment, it can get better in a few months, but about 5% of affected moms may have symptoms for a year or more.
Perinatal depression: occurs during pregnancy or after giving birth. It’s like postpartum depression but can start during pregnancy itself. Postpartum depression is a type of perinatal depression, but not the other way around. For more information visit psychiatry.org.
Dysthymia: Also called persistent depressive disorder. Its symptoms similar to major depression but milder. People with dysthymia may have fewer symptoms, but they can last for years and be quite severe.
Bipolar disorder: a mood disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, and activity levels. Sometimes people feel extremely happy, irritable, or energized (manic episodes), and other times they feel very sad or hopeless (depressive episodes). These mood changes can happen rarely or several times a year.