What is life: A bowl of cherries? A beach? A ride at Disneyland? Maybe, for some teenagers. But for most people, life is downs as well as ups. Sometimes you make the basketball team; sometimes you are on cut list. Sometimes your parents are warm and seem to care about you; sometimes they do not see yours. Pets or loved ones can get sick and die.

Any of those things could cause somebody to be sad. That is perfectly normal- sad events make sad feelings. Add the heat of hormones in a teenage body, and those feelings can become even harder to manage. But when do those sad feelings cross the line and become depression? Depression is a medical term. It is defined in Mosby’s Medical and Nursing Dictionary as “An abnormal emotional state characterized by exaggerated feelings of sadness, melancholy, dejection, wo

There are several types of depression. Most mental-health professionals talk about two main kinds- dysthymic disorder and major depression. Also called chronic depression, dysthymic disorder is a kind of general depression, not linked with any one event that just seems to go on forever. “Some people describe it as being a little more crabby, a little more gloomy than usual,” says Dr. Longeway. “It comes on gradually.” It may be caused by brain chemicals, or it could have a genetic link. To be diagnosed as chronic depression, the symptoms have to last for a year (two years in adults) and happen more days than not. There cannot be more than two months in that year without symptoms. In 1994, an estimated 10 million persons suffered from dysthymia. Epidemiological studies indicate that 12% of U.S. women-compared with only 6% of U.S. men-have suffered from clinically significant depression at some time in their lives.

Depression is a “whole body” illness, involving physical, mental, and emotional problems. A depressive disorder is not a temporary sad mood, and it is not a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be willed away. People with depressive illness cannot just “pull themselves together” and get well. Not everyone who is depressed experiences all of the symptoms. Some people have very few symptoms; some have many. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that 1.5 million people under the age of eighteen suffer from depression. Depression has been called the most significant mental health risk for women, especially younger women of childbearing and childrearing age (Glied & Kofman, 1995). Depression can affect anyone, regardless of his or her race, age, or sex. Like many diseases, it is not just the victim that suffers. The lives of family and friends are also greatly affected by the depressed person’s condition. Depression occurs most common in adults between the ages of 20 and 44 years of age and can interfere with normal functioning and cause pain and suffering not only to the victims, but also to their families and others who care about them.

Women are approximately two times more likely than men to suffer from major depression and dysthymia (Research Agenda for Psychosocial and Behavioral Factors in Woman’s Health, 1996). Major depression is whole body illness because it affects much more than just the mind. Major depression

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