Have you or someone you are close to been feeling depressed for at least a few weeks? Or are you confused about whether you really are depressed because your symptoms don't fit what you know about depression?
Feeling depressed is actually not just one condition but many — all of which fall under the umbrella of mood disturbances. Let's review some common and lesser known forms of depression.
The hallmarks of major depression, the most common type of depression, are a persistent depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure. Major depression may be associated with sleep and appetite disturbance, weight loss, fatigue, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, poor concentration or indecisiveness, or ongoing thoughts of death or suicide.
People who suffer from major depression may also experience some degree of impairment in social or work interactions, or other important areas of functioning. Episodes of major depression can recur multiple times throughout a person's life.
People who experience depression almost all the time have a type of depression called dysthymia. They feel depressed most of the day, for more days than not, during a period of at least two years. However, a person with dysthymia does not have such severe depression or enough symptoms to meet the criteria for major depression during this period.
That's probably why we haven't heard more about this type of depression. Although not as disabling as major depression, the long-lasting low mood of dysthymia still affects a person's ability to function normally.
Sometimes people with ongoing dysthymia may have superimposed episodes of major depression, which sometimes is then described as a double depression.
As stated above, the typical constellation of symptoms occurring with major depression includes a loss of appetite, weight loss, and insomnia. Another kind of depression, however, called atypical depression, refers to a condition where the symptoms are just the opposite. A person with atypical depression can have increased appetite and often gain weight during their episodes. They also have a sense of increased sleepiness, or of not being able to get enough sleep to feel refreshed.
Psychotic depression refers to major depression episodes that are associated with delusional thinking or the experience of hallucinations. When a depressed person does have delusional thoughts, often they are in keeping with a sense of guilt or pessimism. For example, someone with psychotic depression may incorrectly believe that they have caused terrible catastrophes or are in financial ruin.
People with bipolar disorder, sometimes called manic-depressive illness, have had at least one episode of mania or hypomania, but generally they spend greater periods of time in depressive episodes. Even here there are different types of bipolar disorder: Type I bipolar disorder is characterized by severe manic episodes; in type II bipolar disorder, manic episodes are not pronounced and people have greater difficulty due to recurrent depression.
And last, around this time of the year we start hearing more about seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also called seasonal pattern depression. This is a predictably low mood that begins in autumn and disappears in the spring. This type of depression often is associated with symptoms like an excessive desire for sleep, increased appetite, or significant weight changes throughout the year.
Although this seasonal type of depression generally is not as severe as major depression, it still can have a significant effect on the lives of people, due to the long periods of time people suffer with the disorder.
The different types of depression require different treatment approaches. So when seeking help, it is important to tell your doctor or counselor about how you experience your depression. The good news is that there are effective therapies and medications that work for most people no matter what their flavor of depression.
