DEPRESSION

All people at one time or another will feel "down in the dumps" or "blue". For most, depression is simply a normal, although painful emotion. This type of depression just goes away after a few days or is overcome with increased personal effort. For others, depression is a medical illness that debilitates and interferes with normal every day functioning. In this case, depression becomes much more than just a normal painful emotion, but rather an illness, a mental illness. The disease of depression can cause a person to feel a variety of negative feelings including: hopelessness, helplessness, pessimism, and sadness over a long period of time.