Depression may be described as feeling sad, blue, unhappy, miserable, or down in the dumps. Most of us feel this way at one time or another for short periods.

Clinical depression is a mood disorder in which feelings of sadness, loss, anger, or frustration interfere with everyday life for an extended period of time.

See also:

• Adolescent depression
• Depression in the elderly
• Major depression

Blues; Gloom; Sadness; Melancholy

Symptoms of depression include:

• Consistently low or irritable mood
• A loss of pleasure in usual activities
• Trouble sleeping or excessive sleeping
• A dramatic change in appetite, often with weight gain or loss
• Fatigue and lack of energy
• Feelings of worthlessness, self-hate, and inappropriate guilt
• Extreme difficulty concentrating
• Slowed or agitated physical movements
• Inactivity and withdrawal from usual activities
• Feelings of hopelessness and helplessness
• Recurring thoughts of death or suicide

Images

Depression and heart disease

Depression and insomnia

Depression in children

Depression and the menstrual cycle

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Review Date: 03/31/2010
Reviewed By: David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc., and David B. Merrill, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)