Types of Depression

It’s normal to feel down once in a while, but if you’re sad most of the time and it affects your daily life, you may have clinical depression. It’s a condition you can treat with medicine, talking to a therapist, and changes to your lifestyle.

World Health Organization: “Depression.”; Mayo Clinic: “Depression.”; American Psychiatric Association: “What Is Depression?”; Anxiety and Depression Association of America: “Understand the Facts: Depression.”; Getty; Comstock Images;i Stock/Getty Images Plus; Thinkstock; AudioJungle; Rike; Vanessa Clara Ann Vokey; Somos/Veer; KatarzynaBialasiewicz; funduck

There are many different types of depression. Events in your life cause some, and chemical changes in your brain cause others.

Whatever the cause, your first step is to let your doctor know how you’re feeling. She may refer you to a mental health specialist to help figure out the type of depression you have. This diagnosis is important in deciding the right treatment for you.

You may hear your doctor call this “major depressive disorder.” You might have this type if you feel depressed most of the time for most days of the week.

Some other symptoms you might have are:

Your doctor might diagnose you with major depression if you have five or more of these symptoms on most days for 2 weeks or longer. At least one of the symptoms must be a depressed mood or loss of interest in activities.

Talk therapy can help. You’ll meet with a mental health specialist who will help you find ways to manage your depression. Medications called antidepressants can also be useful.

When therapy and medication aren’t working, two other options your doctor may suggest are:

ECT uses electrical pulses and rTMS uses a special kind of magnet to stimulate certain areas of brain activity. This helps the parts of your brain that control your mood work better.

If you have depression that lasts for 2 years or longer, it’s called persistent depressive disorder. This term is used to describe two conditions previously known as dysthymia (low-grade persistent depression) and chronic major depression.

You may have symptoms such as:

You may be treated with psychotherapy, medication, or a combination of the two.

Someone with bipolar disorder, which is also sometimes called “manic depression,” has mood episodes that range from extremes of high energy with an “up” mood to low “depressive” periods.

When you’re in the low phase, you’ll have the symptoms of major depression.

Medication can help bring your mood swings under control. Whether you’re in a high or a low period, your doctor may suggest a mood stabilizer, such as lithium.

The FDA has approved three medicines to treat the depressed phase:

Doctors sometimes prescribe other drugs “off label” for bipolar depression, such as the anticonvulsant lamotrigine or the atypical antipsychotic Vraylar .

Traditional antidepressants are not always recommended as first-line treatments for bipolar depression because there’s no proof from studies that these drugs are more helpful than a placebo (a sugar pill) in treating depression in people with bipolar disorder. Also, for a small percentage of people with bipolar disorder, some traditional antidepressants may increase the risk of causing a “high” phase of illness, or speeding up the frequency of having more episodes over time.

Psychotherapy can also help support you and your family.

Seasonal affective disorder is a period of major depression that most often happens during the winter months, when the days grow short and you get less and less sunlight. It typically goes away in the spring and summer.

If you have SAD, antidepressants can help. So can light therapy. You’ll need to sit in front of a special bright light box for about 15-30 minutes each day.

People with psychotic depression have the symptoms of major depression along with “psychotic” symptoms, such as:

A combination of antidepressant and antipsychotic drugs can treat psychotic depression. ECT may also be an option.

Women who have major depression in the weeks and months after childbirth may have peripartum depression. Antidepressant drugs can help similarly to treating major depression that is unrelated to childbirth.

Women with PMDD have depression and other symptoms at the start of their period.

Besides feeling depressed, you may also have:

Antidepressant medication or sometimes oral contraceptives can treat PMDD.

This isn’t a technical term in psychiatry. But you can have a depressed mood when you’re having trouble managing a stressful event in your life, such as a death in your family, a divorce, or losing your job. Your doctor may call this “stress response syndrome.”

Psychotherapy can often help you get through a period of depression that’s related to a stressful situation.

This type is different than the persistent sadness of typical depression. It is considered to be a “specifier” that describes a pattern of depressive symptoms. If you have atypical depression, a positive event can temporarily improve your mood.

Other symptoms of atypical depression include:

Antidepressants can help. Your doctor may suggest a type called an SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) as the first-line treatment.

She may also sometimes recommend an older type of antidepressant called an MAOI (monoamine oxidase inhibitor), which is a class of antidepressants that has been well-studied in treating atypical depression.

SOURCES:

American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition: DSM-5, American Psychiatric Publishing, 2013.

National Institute of Mental Health: “What is Depression?” “What is Bipolar Disorder?” and “Brain Stimulation Therapies.”

National Alliance on Mental Illness: “Depression: Treatment, Services, and Support.”

Cleveland Clinic: “Seasonal Depression.”

University of Michigan Depression Center: “Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD).”

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: “Efficacy and Safety of Screening for Postpartum Depression.”

American Academy of Family Physicians. “Depression: How Electroconvulsive Therapy Works.”

CDC: “The Burden of Mental Illness.”

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Jan. 6, 2012.

Epperson, C.N The American Journal of Psychiatry, May 2012.

Goldberg, J. Current Psychiatry, May 2014.

National Alliance on Mental Illness: “Criteria for Major Depressive Episode: DSM-5,” “Psychotic Depression.”

Parker, G. The American Journal of Psychiatry, September 2002.

Rothschild, A. Schizophrenia Bulletin, April 2013.

Severus, E. International Journal of Bipolar Disorders, 2013.

Anxiety and Depression Association of America: “Depression.”

Pagination

Differences between feeling depressed and feeling blue.

Famous people who’ve struggled with persistent sadness.

Learn the truth about this serious illness.

Tips to stay the treatment course.

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Types of Depression

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