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For people who have never experienced depression, there’s only one type – “sadness”. For those who struggle with this mental illness on the regular understand that depression is a serious health concern and one that comes with several different symptoms. However, what may surprise you is that there are different types of depression and discovering what type of depression you have can help you find the proper treatment.
10 Types of Depression You Never Knew Existed
Depression is like cancer; you can have depression but you won’t find the best treatment until you know what type of depression you have. To put it into perspective, if you have lung cancer and treat it with a regime for skin cancer, you likely aren’t going to receive the best possible treatment. So, discover what types of depression you have and finally obtain the help, tips, and tricks to overcoming this debilitating illness.
1. Major Depression
Major depression can be defined as feeling depression the majority of time, for two weeks when you feel depressed most of the time.
Symptoms of major depression
Some of the symptoms you may experience if you have major depression include:
- Weight loss or weight gain
- Difficulty sleeping
- Feeling exhausted and sluggish
- Feeling restless and agitated
- Loss of interest in things you usually like
- Feeling guilty or worthless
- Difficulty concentrating
- Thoughts of suicide
If you have five of these symptoms of depression on a continuous basis, it’s likely that you’re suffering from major depression. Speaking with a professional will help you discover ways you can manage this type of depression.
Often times, antidepressants are recommended since this depression is linked to a chemical imbalance as opposed to being triggered by an event or situation.
2. Situational Depression
The second type of depression that I believe to be the most important to understand is situational depression. This is the type of depression I think many kids are getting caught up in and are committing suicide, due to lack of knowledge.
Situational depression isn’t like major (or chronic) depression. It’s triggered by something that has happened, such as a breakup, death of a family member, job loss, divorce, etc.
While the feelings of depression are no less than the other types, the main difference is that the feelings end. You are experiencing a moment of depression that will fade as time goes on. I believe if kids are taught the difference between chronic and situational depression, the world might see a decrease in suicide.
Currently, kids suffering from situational depression don’t know that the pain ends. Unless you are diagnosed with chronic depression, you will feel better and often times, with no medication or therapy needed.
Symptoms of situational depression
The symptoms of situational depression are similar to major depression, as it’s quite similar with the main difference in the trigger and longevity of it.
- Weight loss or weight gain
- Difficulty sleeping
- Feeling exhausted and sluggish
- Feeling restless and agitated
- Loss of interest in things you usually like
- Feeling guilty or worthless
- Difficulty concentrating
- Thoughts of suicide
3. Persistent Depressive Disorder
Persistent depressive disorder is similar to major depression and is often referred to as chronic major depression. The main difference is that you fall within this category if you’ve been suffering from major depression for more than two years.
Symptoms of persistent depressive disorder
The symptoms of this type of depression are a little different, as the depression is caused by a chemical imbalance as opposed to a trigger. Often times, no matter how good life is, you can seem to avoid the following (without treatment):
- Sudden change in dietary habits (overeating or not eating enough)
- Lack of sleep or too much sleep
- Feeling fatigue and sluggish
- Low self-esteem
- Difficulty concentrating
- Feeling hopeless
In order to treat persistent depressive disorder, you need therapy or depression medication, or a combination of the two.
4. Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder is a different type of depression than all the rest, and is often referred to as manic depression. With this mental illness, you experience a range of extreme highs and extreme lows. Sometimes, these moods are sudden and there’s rarely a middle ground. It’s just like – boom – mood shift.
Symptoms of bipolar disorder
I’ve included this in this Anxiety Gone article because when you’re in that extremely low phase, you experience symptoms of major depression.
- Extreme highs and lows in both mood and energy
- Weight loss or weight gain
- Difficulty sleeping
- Feeling exhausted and sluggish
- Feeling restless and agitated
- Loss of interest in things you usually like
- Feeling guilty or worthless
- Difficulty concentrating
- Thoughts of suicide
This type of depression does need to be treated with medication in an effort to stabilize your moods.
5. Seasonal Affective Disorder
A type of depression I can certainly relate to is Seasonal Affective Disorder. It’s a period of major depression you experience during a specific season. Often times, for most people suffering, it’s during the winter months. However, you can experience SAD during the summer months as well.
Symptoms of seasonal affective disorder
- Weight loss
- Difficulty sleeping or oversleeping
- Feeling exhausted and sluggish
- Feeling restless and agitated
- Change in diet (craving foods high in carbs)
- Feeling guilty or worthless
- Difficulty concentrating
Treating seasonal affective disorder is fairly easy in comparison to the other types of depression. Here are 13 ways I treat my SAD each year.
6. Atypical Depression
Atypical depression is different in the sense that you don’t have persistent feelings of unhappiness. Instead, you have moments of positivity and happiness that temporarily improve your mood.
Symptoms of atypical depression
As such, you only experience the following symptoms at times:
- Excessive sleep patterns
- Arms and legs feel heavy
- Oversensitive
- Increased appetite
Taking medication for depression can help control the symptoms, and a serotonin upper can help reduce the frequency of them.
7. Melancholia
Melancholia is a severe form of depression. It’s characterized as a complete loss of pleasure in basically everything.
Symptoms of melancholia
The symptoms of melancholia is quite different because along with the symptoms of major depression, you also experience several physical symptoms such as:
- Loss of pleasure in all or most daily activities
- Slow physical movements
- Significant weight loss
- Excessive guilt
- Deep feelings of worthlessness
- Lack of reactions to positive news
- Suicide attempt
8. Psychotic Depression
Don’t let the name of this depression get you down. Psychotic depression does not mean you’re a psycho. You just experience different types of symptoms that are associated with other major mental illness.
Symptoms of psychotic depression
Along with the other symptoms of major depression, someone suffering from psychotic depression may experience:
- Delusions
- Hallucinations
- Paranoia
As such, you likely need a combination of antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs to treat this type of depression.
9. Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder
Yet another reason why women love getting their period (please note my sarcasm) is the wonderful dose of PMS that can come with it. This type of depression occurs at the start of a menstrual cycle.
Symptoms premenstrual dysphoric disorder
- Irritability
- Anxiety
- Mood swings
- Fatigue
- Change in appetite (hello, chocolate!)
- Change in sleep habits
- Trouble concentrating
- Feeling overwhelmed and emotional
There are various oral contraceptives you can take to reduce the symptoms of PMS, many of which can be purchased at your local drugstore.
10. Postpartum Depression
I wanted to make sure I included postpartum depression in this Anxiety Gone article because it’s just as real as any other type. The difference is in the trigger. Postpartum is when you experience major depression following the weeks and/or months after having a baby.
Symptoms of postpartum depression
The symptoms of postpartum depression as similar to the others, yet can be hard to detect because they may seem ‘normal’ for a new, exhausted mom.
- Severe mood swings
- Severe feelings of depression
- Excessive crying
- Difficulty bonding with the baby
- Withdrawing from family and friends
- Anxiety
- Irritability
- Feeling like you can’t handle or don’t want the baby
- Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide
- Fear you’re not a good mom
- Feeling worthless, inadequacy and shame
These symptoms can continue for months if not treated. So, don’t be ashamed to seek help for postpartum. You deserve to enjoy this amazing time in your life and you can with the proper treatment.
