National Depression Screening Day is currently working to educate the public and health professionals about this new information. Individuals who are experiencing these symptoms should ask their doctor about clinical depression. Feeling downhearted and sad is often a normal reaction to a life situation. All of us feel this way sometimes, but in a few days, perhaps after talking to a good friend, we start to feel ourselves again. Clinical depression is very different.
Clinical depression is an illness, and it requires specific treatment.
Unlike the blues, clinical depression persists and doesn t go away no matter how hard the individual wants it to. Clinical depression is not a weakness. It is an illness and can last for months or years if left untreated. The most serious and tragic consequence of clinical depression is suicide. A health professional diagnoses depression after taking a thorough medical and psychiatric history.