What is clinical depression and how is it diagnosed?

1 Answer

Answer :

This site has a clear explanation and details on the various types. “When is sadness, gloom or “feeling down” normal and when is it a more serious problem? Clinical Depression differs from normal sadness or “the blues” in both the severity of symptoms and in duration. Normal sadness usually does not affect all areas of a person’s life and goes away in a few hours or days. Sometimes a shopping trip or being with friends will cause sadness to disappear. Clinical depression lasts for much longer periods of time and has more symptoms. The rule of thumb is that if sadness lasts for longer than two weeks, it is probably clinical depression. This type of depression often interferes with everyday functioning. Clinical depression is a serious disorder which needs to be evaluated by a professional and usually requires some form of treatment.”

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