Depression and manic depression

Depression has been called the 'common cold of psychiatry' because it is the most frequently encountered mental illness. ivillage has linked with the mental health charity SANE to bring you the facts

Everybody gets 'depressed' from time to time but there is a huge difference between feeling a little low for a couple of days, and depression. When you are feeling low, you can usually find something that will cheer you up, whether telephoning or seeing a friend, or just treating yourself with your favourite food - or a long, hot soak in a bath.

The illness is another matter. True depression is a low mood that can last for a very long time and can actually affect the way you live your life - and the way you treat others. Most people suffer low spirits when things keep going wrong but, though they may be temporarily depressed, they recover quickly. This brief taste of depression is very different from depressive illness, which is long term and severe and needs professional help to treat.

Many doctors now believe that depressive illness is caused by some fault in brain chemistry, which makes sufferers predisposed to the condition. The illness may then be triggered by stress, physical illness, drug abuse and the like. There are no laboratory tests for depression so doctors can only diagnose from the patient's behaviour.

Depressive illness is very common although there are no reliable figures. The picture is that of an iceberg: the small part above the water represents cases that have been diagnosed; the great bulk beneath the water represents depressed people who have not sought help.

Britain, the Royal College of Psychiatrists says that 5 per cent of adults suffers from depressive illness at any one time.

Symptoms

The symptoms of a depressive disorder are a mixture of mood changes and despair with anxiety and physical problems. Anxiety may result in loss of appetite and weight, constipation, decline in sexual interest, headaches, sleeplessness, loss of energy and tiredness.

People suffering from depression can sometimes feel suicidal. Suicide threats should be taken seriously: about 70 per cent of the 4000 suicides a year in Britain are people suffering from depression and 15 per cent of all depressives eventually commit suicide.