Depression is a common mental disorder that causes people to experience depressed mood, loss of interest, low self-worth, disturbed sleep, low energy and poor concentration.
Depression is different from feeling down, fed up or sad. Everyone will feel periods of unhappiness during their life, usually due to a particular reason. A person experiencing depression will experience intense emotions of anxiety, hopelessness, negativity and helplessness which remain with them instead of passing.
Depression can happen to anyone at any stage of their life. Some people have multiple episodes and the length of time it will take someone to recover will vary.
Living with depression is difficult for those who suffer from it and for their family, friends and work colleagues. It can sometimes be difficult to understand what you are feeling and how you can overcome depression.
Depression is one of the main mental health problems in the world, followed by anxiety, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Almost 20% of people aged 16 and over are said to have symptoms of anxiety or depression.
