Depression

What causes depression? Scientists have found that what causes depression is an imbalance of important chemicals in the brain. Here's a look at how these chemicals affect mood to cause depression and also insights into what may trigger depression.

A depressive episode of bipolar disorder is the same as in major depressive disorder. For a depressive episode to be diagnosed, there must be a group of symptoms present, such as low mood, having a hard time making decisions, fatigue and sadness.

Depression is considered one of the primary symptoms of bipolar disorder. However, it is actually a set of symptoms characteristic of one aspect of bipolar disorder. An episode of depression, as it relates to bipolar disorder, is the downswing in a mood cycle. An episode of depression is very debilitating often leaving the sufferer completely...

The symptoms of bipolar depression are very difficult to distinguish from those of major depression often leading to a delayed or misdiagnosis. Those who are diagnosing and treating these disorders must rely on a patient's history of manic episodes to establish a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. One possible tool to help diagnose bipolar...

A brief but comprehensive definition of catatonia and catatonic features, which may be present in bipolar depression, schizoaffective disorder, or schizophrenia.

Here is a brief but comprehensive definition of Melancholia and its presenting features - which may be present in both major depression and bipolar disorder.

People who suffer from depression have fewer cells in a certain part of the brain, a new study finds. This loss occurs only when the disorder runs in the family, suggesting that inherited depression may differ from depression that comes out of the blue.

What is depression? Is it feeling sad, wanting to cry, just being unhappy about something? In fact, the answer to 'what is depression?' isn't as simple as that. True depression is a medical condition with specific symptoms. This article explains what depression really is.