Depression strikes in several forms and may include a number of diagnostic terms -- such as bipolar, clinical, endogenous, major, melancholic, or unipolar -- to describe it. These terms can be confusing because they can overlap, or include more than one diagnosis, since the illness is often linked with other problems, such as alcoholism or other substance abuses, eating disorders, or anxiety disorders. The term "clinical depression" means the depression is severe enough to require treatment.
A person who is badly depressed during a single, severe period is said to have had an episode of major depression. More severe symptoms mark the period as an episode of major depression. The key to judging this gradation lies in the amount of change a person undergoes in his or her normal patterns along with a loss of interest and a lack of pleasure.
For people who suffer with recurrent or long-lasting depression, who almost always seem to have symptoms of a mild form of the illness, the diagnosis is dysthymia. These people may also have major depressive episodes, too, which causes double depression -- a condition that demands careful treatment and close follow-up.
In bipolar depression, the lows alternate with terrible highs, which scientists now believe is the product of an imbalance in the brain chemistry. It can be treated successfully about 80 percent of the time with balance-restoring medications. Symptoms of the lows of bipolar disorder are much the same as for all depressive disorders. Symptoms of the highs of bipolar disorder include:
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