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"How are you this morning?" For someone suffering from some form of depression, this can be a loaded question. Over the past several years, researchers have found that depression involves a lot more than feeling down or sad, it can devastate someone's life over a short period of time and even lead to suicide.

We all have our down times. Typically, the loss of a job, a major break up with someone or even moving to a new place can cause sadness, but how long it takes to recover from that sadness, is one key factor in diagnosing depression. If one finds that they can't shake the feeling of unhappiness or dread after 3-6 weeks, they may be suffering from clinical depression, not just the blues. In addition to this time frame, the following symptoms may be present and could begin to interfere with one's daily routine.

Loss of interest in spending time with friends and family
Finding it very hard to get up out of bed for days
Trouble concentrating
Unexplainable frustration

Unlike fifty years ago, researchers have made extraordinary advances in treating depression. Most people diagnosed with clinical depression have the opportunity to receive some type of treatment, from changing their diet and exercise routine to medication; prescription and non prescription. It depends mostly on the severity of the clinical depression

Drugs such as Prozac (an original), Paxil, and Zoloft are among some of the prescription medications chosen most by doctors to in treating depression. Some non prescription medications that a doctor may recommend are Omega 3 fatty acids (fish oil which come in the form of tablets) and St. John's Wort (which is an herb that can also be found in a tablet form). These are believed to have natural remedies that aid in the decrease of symptoms of depression. Some common side effects linked to the prescription drugs include;

Dry mouth
Excessive perspiration
Constipation
Weight loss/gain

The rarest, most severe side-effect with some of the prescription medications has been thoughts of suicide, (mainly in young people). This is where medical attention must be sought right away. These medications, coupled with counseling, have proven effective for a large percentage of patients that suffer from clinical depression.

Another more complicated form of depression that has proven to be more crippling than clinical depression is bipolar disorder. This disease is formally referred to as manic-depressive disorder and is caused by a chemical imbalance within the brain

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