Depression is more than sadness or feeling depressed for a few days.

A serious condition
that can last months or even years, that's depression. Each year about 15 million Americans suffer from this illness. Only about 4.5 million of those people seek help, which is unfortunate. All too often people avoid recognizing or admitting that they suffer from depression because of the negative archetypes associated with mental illnesses.

Depression is a progressive illness. Without attention it will become more and more severe. People should pay attention to the signs.

A variety of factors, and even combinations of these factors, lead to depression. These include the whole spectrum of genetic, biological, physical and emotional items. Simple daily life and surroundings are important. Detrimental factors such as stress can lead to it. Complicated diseases like depression aren't easy to crack.

The human mind is very complicated as well.
Work continues into the mind and brain and how they work, what makes them tick. We know that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. We are learning more every day about how the whole process works. The phrase is “learning is half the battle” and with depression knowledge is power.

There are a variety of medications available to treat depression.
Quick fix schemes exist too, but they don't work. Make sure the treatment has been studied and scientifically proven to address depression. At one time asylums and mental institutions were filled to the brim with mentally ill people.

That is a thing of the past, thank goodness. The anti-depressant Prozac first came into use in the USA in 1988. It has bee proven effective and is still in use today although it does come with side effects.

A new class of anti-depressants has become widely used since then. Currently depression is being treated with SSRI or (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) such as Paxil, Zoloft, Lexapro, Celexa, and Luvox. All have been proven effective but come with varied side effects.

The market is also ripe with herbal medications and treatments.
The majority of these that have been proven to work as well as the anti-depressants contain the St. John Wort extract ingredient called 'hyperforin'. Some herbal remedies don't contain this ingredient in the proper strength so they don't work.

Research and information are your friends when it comes to the right medications for depression.

Barbara