Depression

Feeling Sad

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Everyone goes through times when they feel sad. The term depression is sometimes used to describe the normal sadness or low mood people feel if they've had to cope with something difficult.

Doctors, when they talk about depression, might be talking about several different mood disorders like major depression, dysthymia or bipolar disorder.  Each one of these mood disorders has a different set of symptoms or criteria for diagnosis.  Mental health professionals and doctors will usually take a while to gather information about a person before they determine clinical depression.

Doctors might have different ways of diagnosing depression, so one doctor might be different from another.  A lot of doctors and psychologists use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV) to diagnose mental disorders.  The DSM-IV lists a lot of mental health conditions and the criteria required for each one in making a diagnosis.

Click on the links below to find out more:

I Think I Have Depression

I Want to See a Counsellor