Definition: Depression is a serious illness. Health professionals use the terms 'depression', 'depressive illness' or ‘ clinical depression’ to refer to something very different from the common experience of feeling miserable or fed up for a short period of time.

Welcome to Depression Info...

... a website that aims to give a wealth of resources about this very common and and potentially debilitating condition. Enclosed within, you will find many articles and products of interest. These cover areas of modern medicine as well as more alternative ones. Much of the enclosed depression information is taken from external sources for which thanks are given. Before continuing, please read the disclaimer.

Extract from Wikipedia: "Clinical depression (also called severe depression disorder, major depression disorder) is a state of intense sadness, melancholia or despair that has advanced to the point of being disruptive to an individual's social functioning and/or activities of daily living. Although a low mood or state of dejection that does not affect functioning is often referred to as depression, clinical depression is a medical diagnosis and is different from the everyday meaning of "being depressed".

"Clinical depression affects about 16% of the population on at least one occasion in their lives. In some countries, such as Australia, one in four women and one in six men will suffer from depression. The mean age of onset, from a number of studies, is in the late 20s. About twice as many females as males report or receive treatment for clinical depression, though this imbalance is shrinking over the course of recent history; this difference seems to completely disappear after the age of 50 - 55, when most females have passed the end of menopause. Clinical depression is currently the leading cause of disability in the US as well as other countries, and is expected to become the second leading cause of disability worldwide (after heart disease) by the year 2020, according to the World Health Organization.

"The diagnosis may be applied when an individual meets a sufficient number of the symptomatic criteria for the depression spectrum as suggested in the DSM-IV-TR or ICD-9/ICD-10. An individual is often seen to suffer from what is termed as a "clinical depression" without fully meeting the various criteria advanced for a specific diagnosis on the depression spectrum. There is an ongoing debate regarding the relative importance of genetic or environmental factors, or gross brain problems versus psychosocial functioning.

"It is crucially important to understand that there is no blood test or brain scan that expresses distinctly that this disorder exists. Therefore the term 'clinically' depressed can be misleading to those who erroneously believe that psychiatry is a strictly scientific field. Laboratory tests can provide scientific proof for both diabetes and heart disease but not for depression, bipolar disorder, even schizophrenia."

This website is not designed as a substitute for seeking professional medical advice should you need to do so. Rather it is intended that the information presented within will assist you in making informed decisions, in cooperation with your doctor, as to the most suitable treatment to use in your fight against this disease.

Please feel free to browse through this site and by all means you can contact me if you wish. You'll find contact details on the About page.

I'm sure you'll find many things of interest within DepressionInfo.me.uk and I wish you all the best in your quest to overcome or alleviate the symptoms of depression.

Thanks for visiting

Alistair Hamilton