Because most people get depressed from time to time, there is that eternal question if depression is a real illness. The answer is: yes. The clinical one, that is. It has been said that about one out of eight United States residents will likely become clinically depressed. Some experience it once in a lifetime, while others have multiple episodes. This is a fact: if a person gets depressed for the first time, there is a 50 percent chance that he will fall to the same predicament again. And come the second time, there is the threat that he will go into a third depressing episode.
Depression is a real illness as it involves the mental, emotional and even physical faculties of the person. It is not just a transient sad feeling that will go away when one wills it to. There are symptoms and signs as well as corresponding treatment. If not handled properly and immediately, it may escalate to worse conditions. Like any other illness, depression has also variations.
There are three types of depressive disorders: major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder and dysthymic disorder.
Major depression is a culmination of all the symptoms and signs that intervene with...