What are the Different Types of Depression?

All of us feel sad, or "depressed" once in a while but the sensation usually passes after a while. In a person with depression the low mood or feeling persists and interferes with his daily life. Depression can affect functioning to such an extent that both the patient and people close to him or who care about him get affected because of it. When you hear the word depression it seems to be a single disease but there are several forms of depression.

Major depressive disorder and dysthymic disorder are the commonest form of depressive disorders.

Major depressive disorder (major depression): Major depressive disorder or major depression can be very disabling. It can prevent the patient from functioning normally and affect every sphere of his life such as sleep, his ability to study, work, eat, and activities he used to find pleasurable. This disorder can recur again and again after successful treatment of a particular episode of illness.

Dysthymic disorder (dysthymia): Dysthymic disorder or mild chronic depression is not disabling like major depressive disorder. The patient can have symptoms for a long time; for even years but may never seek treatment as the symptoms do not really disable him. But it can affect his normal functioning and the person may not feel well. A person can be affected with dysthymia only once during his lifetime, or can also have recurrences.

Psychotic depression: People affected with psychotic depression have symptoms of severe depression along with associated symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, and/or withdrawing from reality.

Postpartum depression (postnatal depression): Postpartum depression or postnatal depression is not the same as 'baby blues' which occur for a short period of time after giving birth. If a woman develops a major depressive illness within a few weeks of delivery then it is likely to be postnatal depression. According to experts many women experience postnatal depression (about 10% to 15% of all pregnancies) but many of them are not diagnosed and treated.

SAD (seasonal affective disorder): SAD is much more common in colder countries (countries farther from the equator). In these countries after summer the duration of sunlight decreases considerably and there are more dark hours. People with SAD develop depressive illnesses during the winter months and are well during spring and/or summer.

Bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness): Bipolar disorder or manic-depressive illness is less common than major depression or dysthymia. These patients experiences moments of extreme highs (mania) and extreme lows (depression).

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