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What is Depression?

Depression in Men

Do I have Depression?

What to do if you have Depression

If you know someone with Depression

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'Sadness is to Depression what normal growth is to cancer'
Lewis Wolpert

Simple answer: Depression is an illness. I sometimes wish that statement could be put on every billboard in the country. It's not a sign of weakness or of failure. You're not a bad person. You aren't a shirker, a loser, a failure or a cop out.

What does it feel like to be depressed?
It's not feeling blue, or low, or down in the dumps. A good night's sleep or a day of sunshine won't change your mood. In fact you may come to hate sunny days, because everyone else seems so much more happy, and you know you should be happy aswell. Praise from friends, relatives or work colleagues doesn't lift your spirits. You think that they are either lying or are deluded, and they will soon find out the truth about: that you are an incompetent, fraudlent person pretending to be a decent human being. You have no right to be happy, no right to be on this planet, and it would be better for everyone if you just checked out right now.

You feel a terrible guilt, but you aren't sure what about. Anxiety prevents you sleeping, or even sitting still for a few minutes. Then sometimes it feels like...nothing. You are living in a haze. There is an invisible barrier between you and everyone else. You have no feelings. Nothing gives you pleasure. The colour has drained out of everything. Jokes aren't funny. Women aren't attractive. Books aren't worth reading. Jobs aren't worth doing. A landscape that you found enchanting is as interesting as an industrial estate. Your favourite food might as well be textureless, tasteless tofu.

Its causes aren't fully known, far less understood. Doctors will tell you that Depression has a physical aspect. Physical and mental changes interrelate in a complex manner. What is known is that the illness does often cause - or is caused by - a deficiency of serotonin. Either the brain cannot produce it, or absorbs it too quickly. It usually comes as a great relief to the sufferer to learn that his illness is physiological. It removes some of the stigma and self-blame that attaches to a psychological disorder. In fact, this shouldn't have been a new discovery. It has been known for a long time that Depression can be treated with certain drugs, which should have suggested a physical aspect to the disorder.

In his excellent book, Malignant Sadness, Lewis Wolpert investigates the history and causes of Depression. I encourage you to read it, and will be liberally thieving from it for the purposes of creating this website