Often an associated symptom of major depressive disorder, diurnal mood variation occurs when a depressed individual notes a marked difference in mood over the course of a day. In a majority of cases, low mood is experienced in the early hours but it gradually improves throughout the day, hence its…
What if you were depressed for so long that you forgot what happiness felt like? What if your low mood started to feel permanent, like part of your personality? This is the reality for many people with dysthymia, or persistent depressive disorder (PDD), a chronic depressive state that lasts two…
Depression is a complex mental health condition. Some of the main causes of depression or contributing factors include upsetting life events, substance use or misuse, family history of depression, mental or physical health conditions, and more. Causes of depression differ depending on age, gender, sex, and race—for example, an elderly…
Known more commonly and collectively as depression, depressive disorders are a set of closely related mental health conditions that affect a person’s mood, energy, nervous system, sleep cycles, biochemistry, and even brain waves. There’s little in an individual’s daily life that depressive disorders won’t affect—but other than a shared capacity…
Depression and anxiety might be the Ross and Rachel of the mental health field. You try to think of them as separate entities, two platonic Friends with a romantic history, but then they’re back together again. And even in the episodes when they’re not together, you still feel the tension. …
All types of depression are characterized by deep sadness and a loss of interest in once-loved activities. Those who are depressed might wake up after a long night’s sleep and still feel miserably tired. They might forget to do simple things like brush their teeth or eat a meal (or…
Depression is one of the most well-known and studied mental health conditions. It’s characterized by feelings of sadness or emptiness, low energy, lack of concentration, and chronic nerve pain, among a myriad of other symptoms. Depressive episodes may even last for months or even years. The different forms of depression…
Most lists of depression symptoms don’t quite capture the emotional weight of severe depression. Clinical facts about depression often fail to paint a full picture of how it feels to experience this mood disorder. What does depression feel like? Why is it so difficult to cope with? And what can…
If you’re expecting tips on what medium-priced champagne to buy in order to sweep your lover off their feet this Saturday night, you’re in the wrong place. Sorry. It’s not going to be that kind of a date night. You probably won’t end up in a Jacuzzi, or on a…
Major depression disorder (MDD) is a mental health condition that impacts emotional well-being and can cause severe functional consequences in daily life. MDD is also called clinical depression, major depression, and unipolar depression (to distinguish it from bipolar depression caused by bipolar disorder). In Ancient Greece, depression was called melancholia,…
Like a cold blast of air, seasonal affective disorder (also known as seasonal depression) hits hard for those who experience it. There’s more to this emotional disorder than just feeling down in the winter, though. We’re here to help you navigate the ins and outs of seasonal depression, and find…
Having a baby is life-changing, obviously. But no matter how much you research and plan, you don’t truly know what being a parent is like until you’re a parent. When men and women experience rollercoaster emotions after birth, they’re having a common reaction to one of the most significant events…