Health Library
The Health Library is a collection of health and wellness resources created for learning and accessibility. Select a topic below for related health information or search for a topic in the search bar for more information on other medical conditions.
Depression
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Many medicines can cause changes in how we feel. Some can cause symptoms of depression. These include: Blood pressure medicines, such as clonidine (Catapres). Barbiturates. Some examples are pentobarbital (Nembutal), phenobarbital, and secobarbital...
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The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that all people, starting at age 12, be screened for depression. Screening for depression helps find depression early. And early treatment may help you get better faster. Depression is a disease....
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See how family and friends helped three people cope with depression.
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Covers how mental health problems can affect your relationships. Looks at the stigma of mental health problems. Offers ways to help others understand. Covers how to get help. Includes links to info on specific disorders like depression, OCD, or PTSD.
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Discover how your antidepressant can make life better and how to make it easier to take.
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Learn how electroconvulsive therapy is done and what the benefits are.
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Learn to check your mood for warning signs that depression may be coming back.
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Learn about physical symptoms that may be linked to depression.
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See how depression can affect relationships and why treatment matters.
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Learn how tracking your mood can help you manage depression.
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Learn how depression medicines work to help you feel better.
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Learn how depression medicines balance chemicals in your brain to help you feel better.
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Find out just how common depression is and why treatment matters.
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Get a brief introduction to the ways depression can be treated.
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Learn how to use your inner strengths to get through tough times and overcome challenges.
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You are not alone in feeling down. Hear from others who have depression.
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Hear from others who have repeated bouts of depression.
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You can make it through your depression. Hear from people who have recovered from depression.
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Learn how depression medicines can help and why it may take time to find the right medicine for you.
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Learn how working with the right counselor can help treat depression.
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Learn how keeping your mood healthy can also help keep your heart healthy.
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Ravi thought he was coping well with his back pain. He had gotten used to having pain most days since he hurt his back in college while playing rugby. He figured some amount of pain would always be part of his life. But over a couple of months, Ravi stopped going out with friends after work. He didn't go on bike rides...
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Learn how to deal with common side effects of depression medicines.
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Learn why it's important to work with your doctor when stopping depression medicines.
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Covers when feelings of sadness or anxiety may indicate need for treatment for depression. Offers tips to help with depression. Explains emergency symptoms, like talk about suicide. Includes interactive tool to help you decide when to call a doctor.
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You may be depressed if you have at least five of these symptoms for 2 weeks or longer, and one of the symptoms is either sadness or loss of interest. You feel sad or hopeless. You lose interest in or stop getting pleasure from most daily activities. You lose or gain a lot of weight because of changes in how hungry...
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It is common for a person who has had a stroke to feel sad and become depressed about the disabilities caused by the stroke. Sometimes the injury to the brain from the stroke can cause depression. Depression is a serious condition that needs...
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Briefly discusses St. John's wort, an herbal dietary supplement used to treat mild to moderate depression. Covers possible side effects and safety issues.
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Discusses causes and symptoms like sadness and feelings of helplessness. Covers related illnesses like bipolar disorder and SAD. Looks at treatment with medicines, counseling, and lifestyle choices. Discusses suicidal thoughts and when to call a doctor.
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There is a link between depression and coronary artery disease. People with heart disease are more likely to get depression. And if a person has both depression and heart disease, they may not stay as healthy as possible. They are less likely to...
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Depression is different from normal sadness. Depression is not simply feeling sad. Depression is a disorder with specific symptoms that can be diagnosed and treated. For every 10 patients diagnosed with cancer, about 2 patients become depressed. The numbers of men and women affected are about the same. A person...
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Provides guidelines to reduce problems and get the most benefit from taking antidepressants. Covers what you need to know about antidepressants, side effects, and risks. Covers how to take medicine wisely.
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Discusses dealing with side effects of antidepressants. Links to more info on medicines, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and tricyclic antidepressants. Explains reasons to take medicine. Includes a warning to watch for serious side effects.
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Helps you assess whether you have depression. Tool calculates how many common symptoms you have. Based on your answers, shows where you fall on a depression scale. Helps you find out if you might need treatment. Offers link to extensive info on depression.
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Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a procedure used to treat severe depression. It may be used in people who have symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, or suicidal thoughts or when other treatments such as psychotherapy and antidepressant medicines have not worked. It is also used for other psychiatric and...
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Sometimes depression in children and teens may be triggered by or result in conflict within the family. Family conflict can trigger depression symptoms or make them worse. And family therapy aimed at correcting these issues can improve the outcome. But this type of counseling used alone has not been proved effective for...
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Recovering from a heart problem means not only getting back your physical strength but also getting back your emotional and mental well-being. Having a positive outlook during your recovery and rehabilitation is necessary to help you recover physically, emotionally, and mentally. Remember that you are going to start...
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Guides through decision to take antidepressants for depression. Covers symptoms of depression. Lists reasons for and against antidepressants. Covers side effects. Looks at other treatments to try. Includes interactive tool to help you make your decision.
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Read the following information to help you decide whether you might have depression. It does not take the place of a doctor's diagnosis. Depression causes you to feel sad or hopeless much of the time. It's different from normal feelings of sadness,...
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Guides you through deciding whether your child should take medicines for depression. Offers reasons for and against. Covers side effects, including possible increase in suicidal thoughts. Includes interactive tool to help you make your decision.
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Joan figured she would need months to recover physically from the heart attack 2 years ago that led to her heart failure. She didn't realize she would need just as much time to recover emotionally. "I was only 52 when I had the heart attack," she says. "Heart disease runs in my family, but I thought I'd been taking...
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Depression is an illness that makes a person feel sad or hopeless much of the time. It's different from feeling a little sad or down. Depression can be treated with counseling or medicine, or both. Healthy thinking also can help prevent or control depression. If you have thoughts of harming yourself or others, you...
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Unwanted thoughts can make you feel anxious or depressed. They may keep you from enjoying your life. A technique called thought-stopping can help you stop unwanted thoughts. What you think can affect how you feel. Thought-stopping helps you change how you think so that you feel better. Changing your thinking will...
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If someone you care about has been diagnosed with depression, you may feel helpless. Maybe you're watching a once-vibrant person slide into inactivity or seeing a good friend lose interest in activities that he or she used to enjoy. The change in your loved one's or friend's behavior may be so great that you feel you no...
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People's ideas about depression have changed over the years. New technology and new research show that depression is a disease, just like asthma or heart failure. Here are some myths and facts about depression. Myth Fact "Depression isn't real." "It's something in your head." "It's being lazy." Depression is...
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Your loved one or friend doesn't seem the same. You thought it was the blues, but it's been going on for weeks. And it seems much worse than that. Is your friend grieving over something? Or could it be depression? If you want to learn more about grieving, see the topic Grief and Grieving. If you think someone close...
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It's not unusual for mental health problems, especially depression and anxiety, to occur with long-term (chronic) diseases. For example, you may: Have diabetes and also feel very sad. Be depressed and notice that your physical health is getting worse. Perhaps your blood pressure is going up. Have...
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Depression is a medical problem, and you have the right to keep it private. But if it harms your relationships, it may help to talk to your partner, friends, or children about it. Talking to your partner or friends Explain depression to your partner or friends. Be honest about it. Tell them it's a health problem...
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When you're depressed, holidays can be hard. They may bring up bad memories, or you may feel as if you're outside looking in at people who are having a good time. But try to take part in some holiday events. It may make you feel better. Here are some tips for dealing with the holidays. Try to: Spend time with...
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Depression is a disease. It's caused by changes in chemicals in the brain that are called neurotransmitters. Depression isn't a character flaw, and it doesn't mean you are bad or weak. It doesn't mean you are going crazy. People who are very depressed can feel so bad that they think about suicide. They may feel...
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Over coffee, Martha explains how severe depression left her wanting to end her life and unable to have normal conversations with people. "I woke up every day with suicide on my mind, and I went to bed with suicide on my mind," Martha says. Nearly broke, and without health insurance, her life became a "dark maze of...
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For close to 40 years, Stan woke up each day feeling as if he were going to die. "Mornings were like doomsday," he recalls, describing his depression, alcohol use disorder, and prescription drug misuse. "It was like everything was just dead … that...
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In raising three teenagers, Sherri juggles the usual whirlwind of school, sports, friends, and family commitments. She also has duties most parents don't face. She shuttles all the kids to counseling and psychiatrist appointments and makes sure they take daily antidepressant medicines. For a long time, Sherri was so...
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Cheryl is a self-employed single mom. She juggles work, four kids, and depression. "Some days, depression really pulls me down, and I'm totally exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally," Cheryl says. "Other days, I feel great." Cheryl thinks her first bouts of depression came when she was in middle...
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Susan's depression started in college. "I was a kid, and I had really bad self-esteem issues. I was making dumb choices," she says. Now Susan is 43, married, and a mother of four. Over the years, her depression has changed. Sometimes, it's felt as if hard times have brought it on. At other points in her life, the...
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FDA advisories. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued advisories to patients, families, and health professionals to closely monitor for warning signs of suicidal behavior in children and adults younger than 25 who take antidepressants. This is especially important at the beginning of treatment or when...
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Guides through decision to take antidepressants while pregnant. Covers SSRIs (Zoloft and Prozac) and tricyclic antidepressants. Lists reasons for and against medicines. Covers benefits and risks. Includes interactive tool to help you make your decision.
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Guides through the decision to stop or keep taking depression medicine. Looks at benefits and risks of stopping antidepressants. Covers cognitive-behavioral therapy. Includes interactive tool to help you make your decision.
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Children who are depressed may have the same symptoms as adults. But adults may believe that these symptoms are normal in children. Some signs that may alert adults that children are depressed include: Being irritable and crying for no reason you...
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Looks at depression in children and teens. Covers symptoms like anxiety, headaches, sleep problems, and lack of energy. Discusses treatment with therapy and medicines. Covers warning signs of suicide.
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Certain medical or mental disorders can produce symptoms similar to depression. Before depression is diagnosed, it may be necessary to rule out other causes of the symptoms that your child or teen may be experiencing. These other disorders may be...
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It is normal for your growing child to be moody or somewhat irritable as he or she moves through adolescence. But symptoms of prolonged sadness or irritability and a loss of pleasure in activities the child enjoyed before can point to depression....
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Antidepressant medicines often work well, but they do have some risks and side effects. Their use may increase the risk of suicide, especially in the first few weeks of use. If your child starts antidepressants, be sure to be aware of this risk and get help if you see any of the warning signs. Before prescribing...