If you Think You Have Depression: A Dell Mental Health Guide

How do you know when what you are experiencing is just a bad day or something more serious? We all have our ups and downs depending on how our day or week is going. The transition from bad day to rut to clinical depression can be gradual and leave even the strongest person thinking, "What is wrong with me? I just have to try harder! Why am I so lazy? Why can't I get out of bed?"

Clinical depression is a medical illness similar to pneumonia that even the strongest person cannot overcome without treatment. Clinical depression is similar to heart disease and cancer in that all of us have a susceptibility to each. If we have a family history of one of these illnesses, our susceptibility Increases. This explains how some develop a clinical depression only after extraordinary stressors and others develop clinical depression seemingly out of the blue. Clinical depression is a very common illness that affects approximately 3-5% of the population at any one time. There is a 20% chance of having an episode of clinical depression at some point in one's life.

Robin Levinson and Roger Granet explore the latest information about depression, including symptoms and treatments in their easy to use and comprehensive If You Think You Have Depression: A Dell Guide to Mental Health.