Depression Talk

One of the annoying things about having depression is that the word “depression” is used fopr many different things. If you say you have depression, the person listening might think you mean one thing when you mean something else. Until we can shake up the language of depression a bit, we’re going to have to cross our fingers that people know about the types of depression.

Momentary Sadness

This is the least severe type of depression and does not need any medical treatment. It’s a very strong emotion that happens due to grief, shock, bad news or change in medication. There is a direct cause and when that cause changes, the depression goes away. This can last anywhere from an hour to a couple of months.

Clinical Depression

Now we get into nastier territory that does require medical treatment. Clinical depression has undergone some name changes over the years. Many doctors now refer to it as “major depression”. This is when feeling sad, hopeless and tired just does not go away. There are days that are worse than others, but for the most part you are on a perpetual downer. There does not have to be a direct cause to set the symptoms off.

Manic Depression (Bipolar Disorder)

Made famous by the Jimi Hendrix song and what people with clinical depression are often accussed of having. This is a very severe mental disorder that can be crippling to the sufferer. You go through two cycles — being manic and being depressed. The manic cycles are where you are so bursting with energy that the planet can’t hold you. You do very harmful things to yourself, your financies and your future. And then, you crash.

Seaonal Depressive Disorder

Known as SAD, appropritately enough, this is where you have the symptoms of clinical depression — but only during winter. You do need to see the doctor about this type of depression, too.

Post Partum Depression

What Tom Cruise claims doesn’t exist, but most certainly does. This happens to women after they’ve given birth. The good news is that we know more about post-partum depression than ever before and it does usually go away. You do still need to see a doctor about it, because it can be incredibly intense, even with thoughts of murdeing the baby.

There are many shades in between of these broad types of depression. For example, the clinical depression that I have is endogenous recurring depression. It means I’ve got the blues all of the time for no known reason.