It is normal to feel sad and grief stricken in response to stressful situations, such as divorce, loss of a job, coping with a chronic illness, or being a parent struggling to care for a family without adequate support or financial resources. It is also important to realize that depression can develop independent of any stressful situation.
Depression is the most common mental disorder, but also the most treatable.
Clinical Practice Guidelines reports that despite the prevalence, depression often is unrecognized by health care professionals. Many people still view depression as a weakness fearing the reactions of co-workers, friends and families. As a result, millions of people with depression do not seek treatment and experience unnecessary problems at home, in their jobs and with relationships. The consequence of unrecognized and untreated depression can be quite serious. People who have major depression may also suffer physical disability, family conflict, and death due to suicide.