Depression refers to a collection of symptoms that impact how we think, feel and behave. Depression is often referred to as a ‘mood disorder’ as it is characterised by a persistent and overwhelming low mood and/or feeling completely numb.

At some point in our lives, most people will feel depressed. Sometimes we go through a difficult break-up, lose our job or just feel depressed after having a few ‘rough’ weeks. However, in most cases these feelings pass. Clinical depression however, is characterised by symptoms that last at least 2 weeks, for most of the day nearly every day, and cause significant distress. These experiences can leave a person unable to function, sometimes to the point of not being able get out of bed, shower, or eat for days on end.

Common symptoms of depression include low mood and lack of enjoyment in life, lack of concentration or indecisiveness, low level of energy and fatigue even when sleep is not an issue, changes in appetite and sleep patterns, excessive feelings of unreasonable guilt, hopelessness and despair, and thoughts of suicide*.

It is vital to understand that if a person is clinically depressed, they cannot just ‘snap out of it’ or ‘think positively’. People experience mood disorders because of a combination factors that are not their fault. People may have a vulnerability to experience depression due to combination of biological, personality and interpersonal factors. When a highly stressful event or a series of stressful events occur, a person can develop a pattern of thinking and feeling that may perpetuate the symptoms of depression and lead to further periods of depression later on down the track.