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Depression is when it feels like it will never stop raining inside your heart. It is when you lose all joy in things that once made you happy like shopping with your sister, dancing with your sweetheart, or watching your child play in the park. When your bed seems to be the best place in the world, and getting up, dressed, and going anywhere has as much appeal as nails on a chalk board.

This darkness is not caused by a particular life occurrence. It wasn't the death of a loved one or the loss of a great job. It just happens. Without rhyme or reason. As an unwilling victim of depression, there is NO "snapping out of it", no easy fix. Often, you feel trapped, helpless, and hopeless. You feel like the dawning day is sure to bring only more of the same gloom and doom that fills your mind.

Depression is a real medical issue. It affects most people at least one time in their lives. It is normal to find yourself in a depression when terrible things occur. That is not unusual or extraordinary. When depression does NOT have a root cause such as a trauma, and it lasts longer than six weeks, it is time to seek medical help.

Sometimes depression causes physical symptoms. Stomach aches, pain or tenderness in muscles, headaches, or low energy are signs. A person who is depressed can continue to go to work, grocery shop, or pay their bills; they simply have no enjoyment from life. Life begins to look like a cold, hard place. Colors dull. Friends and family are not as important. Depressed people live within themselves. It's safe there, they think. It's a place to hide away.

People who are diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder understand depression well. They live with these symptoms a great deal of the time. What separates BP affects individuals from those affected by depression only would be the manic phases.

Manic phases. Mania. What is mania? Mania can manifest itself in many forms and it ranges in levels. During low mania, you could not suffer many consequences. Internally, you could feel like you could take on the world and win. You are able to complete many things, you can clean your house, and do things put on the back burner, and still have energy to burn. You feel good about yourself, your life, and the people in it. Socially, mildly manic people are butterflies.

The deeper the mania become, the harsher the side effects. Usually, in moderate mania a person has LOTS more energy; they have so much energy it is difficult to sleep. It is harder to concentrate. It feels like you are

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