Depression

Depression is a serious illness. Health professionals use the terms 'depression', 'depressive illness' or 'clinical depression' to refer to something very different from the common experience of feeling miserable or fed-up for a short period of time.

When you’re depressed, you may have feelings of extreme sadness that can last for a long time. These feelings are severe enough to interfere with your daily life, and can last for weeks or months, rather than days. The number of people with depression is hard to estimate, because many don’t get help or aren’t formally diagnosed. Women seem to be twice as likely to suffer from depression than men, although this could be because men may be less likely to seek help.

Other people who are more likely to suffer from depression include those with diabetes or coronary heart disease, people who have separated from their partner, older people and people who are unemployed. Most of the 4,000 suicides committed each year in England are linked to depression. On average, 15% of people with recurrent depression (repeated attacks) have an increased risk of suicide.

People with a family history of depression are more likely to experience the condition themselves. Depression affects people in many different ways and can cause a wide variety of physical, psychological (mental) and social symptoms. If you have depression you will probably also have one or two, or perhaps even more physical (somatic) symptoms.