Everyone feels sad here and there, but for many people who suffer from depression these feelings can persist for years. Depression is a social disorder characterized by depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities, persisting for a period of 2 weeks. “Depression is a hidden mood disorder that can cause people to feel hopeless, not have enough energy to get up and do things, it can affect people's ability to live everyday life, ranges from mild to severe or manic depression,” according to Valerie Labanca MFT. A 2003 National Institutes of Health study estimated that more than 16 percent of Americans, as many as 35 million, suffer from depression severe enough to warrant treatment.1 Depression includes psychotherapy, medications, electroconvulsive therapy, and transcranial magnetic stimulation. Depression has emotional, behavioral, and physical symptoms. Emotional symptoms of depression include depressed mood on a daily basis, low self-esteem, markedly decreased interest or pleasure in daily activities, insomnia, hypersomnia, anxiety, irritability, aggression, feelings of worthlessness, excessive guilt, suicidal ideation, and recurrent thoughts of death. Behavioral symptoms of depression are suicide attempts, self-harm, antisocial behavior such as not going out, staying indoors and not maintaining cleanliness and hygiene. Physical symptoms are significant weight loss when not dieting, weight gain, fatigue, aches and pains, headaches. Just because you feel sad doesn't mean a person is depressed. A diagnosis of depression must be made by a psychiatrist. Psychiatrists will give multiple questionnaires to patients... half of the paper... er, who hasn't found a 100% cure yet. Approximately 80% of people suffering from symptoms of depression currently receive no treatment. 6 people do not seek treatment. Experts still believe that antidepressants and therapy are the best solution to overcome depression. Works Cited “Depression: Out of the Shadows,” PBS, May 21, 2008.6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_depressive_disorder.pbs.org/wgbh /takeonestep/depression/pdfdep_stats.pdfShah N, Eisner T, Farrell M , Raeder C. An overview of SSRIs for the treatment of depression [PDF]; July/August 1999 [cited 10-11-2008]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_depressive_disorderhttp://www.depressionsymptoms101.com/depression-statistics“Depression: Out of the Shadows,” PBS, May 21, 2008. http://www.pbs.org / wgbh/takeonestep/depression/pdf/dep_stats.pdf