NIMH Depression

Mental Depression in Children

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), depression in children was not a recognized disorder until the 1980s. Previously, children usually were thought to be going through a phase or acting out for other reasons. Rarely were...

What Is the Definition of Depression?

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), depression is a serious illness in which more than 17 million Americans suffer from it each year. According to the Mayo Clinic, most medical professionals consider depression a lifelong...

Environmental Factors of Depression

According to the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH), there is no single known cause of depression. While evidence suggest that genetics and biochemical factors are at play, it is likely that depression results from a combination of...

Health Risks Associated With Depression

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that depression is a major cause of illness and death in the United States, as it results in a "reduced quality of life, social functioning and excess disability." Many depression patients have...

Causes of Mental Depression

When a patient has mental depression, it can interfere in her life and make it difficult to function. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) states that major depressive disorder and dysthymic disorder are the most common forms of...

Affective Disorder of Depression in Women

Although depression remains one of the most debilitating illnesses for women and men alike, certain factors, such as hormones and response to stress, increase the incidence and intensity of depression for women. According to the National...

The Main Causes of Depression

Depression is an illness of the mind, but it also affects the body. It tends to affect women more than men, and it often co-exists with other illnesses, such as anxiety disorders and phobias, according to the National Institute of Mental Health...

Side Effects of Anti-Depression Medications

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), depression is commonly treated with anti-depression medications that are designed to affect the neurotransmitters in brains that control emotional and mood responses.

How Do Doctors Test for Depression?

Depression is a mental health disorder that is classified as an Axis I disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Depression is further classified as a mood disorder and fits into the same diagnostic category as bipolar...

Early Stages of Depression

There is no precise categorization for stages of depression because depression has numerous causes and manifests and progresses differently among different people. What most experts attempt to discern are the signs and symptoms that might be...

How to Deal With Depression on Your Own With No Medications

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), one in four adults suffers from a mental illness each year. Additionally, 14.8 million U.S. adults suffer from some form of depression. Chronic or severe depression is typically treated...

The Most Common Signs of Depression

Depression is a name for several related mood disorders, as defined in the American Psychiatric Society's "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 4th ed., Text Revision" (DSM-IV). When identified as depression, it usually means major depression, a...

Early Warning Signs of Depression

Although we all feel blue at times, depression is a serious long-term illness that interferes with a person's everyday functioning and/or causes distress. The early warning signs of depression are milder forms of major depression symptoms. If you...

How to Treat Bipolar Disease Holistically

According to the National Institute on Mental Health, more than 14 million Americans are plagued by depression. Manic depression, also referred to as bipolar disorder, affects more than 5 million Americans. It is characterized by cycles of mood...

Signs of Depression in a 6-Year-Old

Until the late 20th century, depression was considered an adult mental health issue, explains the National Institute of Mental Health. Now, however, mental health professionals understand that depression may also impact children and adolescents....

Signs a Man Is Depressed

Although women are twice as more likely to be depressed, many men are diagnosed with depression---6 million, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Male patients experience the typical signs of depression, such as sadness, but also...

Aderall for Depression

"Down in the dumps" doesn't touch the level of misery some experience when they're depressed. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the NIMH, major depression is the leading cause of disability in the United States in people ages...

What Are Forms of Depression?

Depression is more than feeling low once in a while---clinical depression impacts the patient's life, and results in drastic mood changes, concentration and sleeping problems, irritability and thoughts of suicide. The National Institute of Mental...

Genetic Factors of Depression

Although depression is classified as a mental condition, its causes, like its symptoms, are not restricted to the mind. Depression remains a serious condition with varying causes that can prove mentally, emotionally and physically disabling....

Cymbalta for Depression

Cymbalta, which is the brand name for the medication duloxetine, is a commonly prescribed medication for the treatment of depression. It can also be used to treat neuropathic or diabetic pain as well as anxiety. Like many psychiatric medications,...

Natural Herbs That Increase Serotonin

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), depression is a medical condition that affects approximately 21 million adults annually in the United States. The Mayo Clinic says some research points to irregularities in...

Side Effects of Phenylalanine Deficiency

Numerous side effects are associated with phenylalanine deficiency. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, or UMMC, phenylalanine is an essential amino acid, or building block for proteins in your body. Your body needs...

Stress & Depression Symptoms

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), there are three different types of stress based on the duration, symptoms and triggers and can differ between individuals. Like stress, depression is very subjective based on the...

Signs That Depression Is Starting

Major depression seriously affects a person's ability to work, sleep, deal with the family or enjoy life in general. Bipolar disorder is another form of depression in which mood changes can cause a person to have extreme highs and lows in...

How to Help Someone You Care About Deal With Depression

Depression is a mood disorder that causes a person to feel intense and unexplainable sadness, feelings of worthlessness, feelings of helplessness, fatigue, inability to find pleasure in things, and suicidal thoughts for significant periods of...

What Leads Some Adolescents to Become Depressed?

As adolescents make the transition from childhood to young adulthood, they have many experiences that leave them exhilarated and despondent by turns. Perhaps more than any other time of life, adolescence is an age of dramatic emotional ups and...

About Unipolar Depression

Unipolar depression, also called major depression, affects 6.7 percent of adult Americans. Is the leading cause of disability in people between ages 15 and 44, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). This type of depression...