Not all depressions are alike. The word "depression" is used to cover a variety of meanings, from an emotion, a financial state, a storm, a crater or several serious medical conditions. Because people have become overly familiar with the word "depression", it can be difficult for someone suffering from depression to others to understand what they are going through.

Temporary Depression

There are many other terms used for this most familiar type of depression. Basically, when something bad happens to a person, they feel upset. This type of depression has a definite cause and tends to fade after a year, but a person can greatly benefit from visiting with a doctor or therapist during this difficult time. Events that can trigger temporary depression include trauma, diagnosis of a serious illness, death of a loved one or loss of a job.

Post-Partum Depression

This used to be denigrated as "baby blues", but women have become so depressed after giving birth that they have committed suicide. Although this type of depression is still mysterious, it's thought that the sudden hormonal changes a woman goes through during pregnancy, birth and nursing may be the trigger.

There's no way to predict which expectant mothers will get post-partum depression, but the National Alliance for Mental Health (NAMI) states that if a woman had it once, they are 50% likely to get it again.

Post-partum depression can be successfully treated with a combination of therapy and antidepressant medication.

Dysthymia

Sometimes unfairly labelled "minor depression", this type of depression can still wreak havoc on someone's life. According to "The Family Intervention Guide to Mental Illness" (Bodie Morey and Kim T. Mueser, Ph.D.; 2007), a person has symptoms for at least two years and symptoms may be milder than in major depression. But a person can be unlucky enough to have both dysthymia and major depression.

Unipolar, Clinical or Major Depression

There are a couple of types of this "classic depression", depending on how often symptoms occur, but for the most part symptoms are the same. A person feels as if everything is hopeless and there is no point to life. They usually develop chronic pains, have problems sleeping, become either overweight or underweight and not believe they can be helped.

It's this last symptom which is the most deadly. Since people with major depression believe that they cannot be helped, they do not go to seek help. But people with depression can be helped with a combination of medication, therapy and lifestyle changes.

Depressive Phase of Bipolar Disorder

Also known as manic depression, a manic phase that lasts days, weeks or months is immediately followed by a horrible depressive low that also lasts for days, weeks or months. People have been known to commit suicide during these intensely bleak phases. It is unknown what causes bipolar disorder, but genetics is thought to play a key role.

Major depression and bipolar cannot be cured, but they can be managed. Through medication and therapy, a patient can learn to distinguish their symptoms so they can call for help as quickly as possible instead of waiting until after being found trying to commit suicide.

Learn more about this author, Rena Sherwood.
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