Sometimes there is no obvious reason and depression can come out of the blue. It affects your ability to think, eat and sleep, as well as your mood. Severe depression can stop you living your life the way you want to. You may feel total despair or suicidal. Doctors may say you have 'clinical depression' is when these negative and thoughts carry on for a long time, or go beyond normal changes of mood.
Depression is common.
According to the World Health Organisation 340 million people have depression worldwide. Depression is more common in older people, but it can also affect young people. You may feel that nothing can help you, but depression can be treated, and people usually recover. Depression and anxiety often go together, but anxiety often disappears when the depression is treated. Social, emotional and physical factors all play their part in depression.