The word depression is used to describe a range of moods - from low spirits to a severe problem that interferes with everyday life. If you are experiencing severe or ‘clinical’ depression you are not just sad or upset. The experience of depression is an overwhelming feeling which can make you feel quite unable to cope, and hopeless about the future. If you are depressed your appetite may change and you may have difficulty sleeping or getting up. You may feel overwhelmed by guilt, and may even find yourself thinking about death or suicide. There is often an overlap between anxiety and depression, in that if you are depressed you may also become anxious or agitated.
Sometimes it is difficult to decide whether you are responding normally to difficult times, or have become clinically depressed.
A rough guide in this situation is that if your low mood or loss of interest significantly interferes with your life (home, work, family, social activities), lasts for two weeks or more, and brings you to the point of thinking about suicide then you may be experiencing clinical depression and you should seek some kind of help.
