A depressed person may experience a noticeable loss in their ability to feel pleasure about anything. Any of these symptoms can last for brief periods of time or linger for years. Being clinically depressed is very different from the down type of feeling all people experience from time to time. In clinical depression, such feelings are out of proportion to any external causes. There are things in everyone's life that are possible causes of sadness, but people who are not depressed manage to cope with these things without becoming incapacitated.
Depressive disorders come in different forms, just as do other illnesses such as heart diseases.
The three most prevalent forms are major depression, dysthymia, and bipolar disorder. Major depression is manifested by a combination of symptoms that interfere with the ability to work, sleep, eat, and enjoy once-pleasurable activities. These disabling episodes of depression can occur once, twice, or several times in a lifetime. Write about your feelings. Keep a journal.