Almost everyone of us fall victim of depression. Regardless of our age, gender or social circumstances – depression is a common mental health issue which strikes us very frequently. So, let’s try to understand what is ‘Depression’.

On a very basic level, we may define Depression as a common mental illness that makes a person sad or unstable. Depression impedes our well-being and puts us into a mental comma, being incapable of enjoying the beauty of our existence.

Depression can be caused by a myriad of factors. Prominent ones are –

• stress and life problems
• traumatic life events
• grief and loss
• loneliness
• not sleeping well
• health problems
• Smoking
• lack of physical activity
• unhealthy eating
• using alcohol or other drugs
• medications.

According to Black Dog institute – a popular Australian organisation which helps people to battle mental health issues, depression could be manifested into the following five types –

• major depressive disorder
• major depressive disorder (with melancholia)
• psychotic depression
• persistent depressive disorder (or dysthymic disorder)
• perinatal depression (also called antenatal and postnatal depression).