When depression changes someone's home, work, or social situations, it is a cause for concern. While a bad day or two is normal from time to time, if symptoms last every day for two weeks a person is moving into clinical depression and should seek professional help. Remember that symptoms of depression may differ among age groups. In young adults, we often see anxiety and extreme irritability as cause for concern. For the elderly, physical symptoms are more common.
Depression is an illness that comes and goes.
Most people have their first incidence of depression in their early twenties, and two-thirds of patients with one depression will have another. However, a mix of counseling and medication can pull a person out of depression and prevent another a recurrence. Some take medicine for as little as six months, while others need help for years. Regardless of the degree of treatment, the right mix leads to a 70 to 80 percent response rate. St. John's Wort is currently used mostly in Europe by non-psychiatric doctors.