What Is the Difference Between Depression & Clinical Depression?

Clinical depression or major depressive disorder has become a serious disability for ages 15 to 44 in the United States says the National Institute of Mental Health. However, distinguishing normal depression from clinical depression can be a difficult task. In her book, Prozac Nation, Elizabeth Wurtzel described serious depression this way: "A human being can survive almost anything, as long as she sees the end in sight. But depression is so insidious, and it compounds daily, that it's impossible to ever see the end".

Symptoms

• “Normal” depression occurs due to a person’s reaction to general everyday events. It is often characterized as “having the blues” or feeling “out of it." Clinical depression, however, is a much more serious form of depression where a person may feel an overwhelming sadness or feeling that life will never get better which symptoms including fatigue, lethargy, physical pain and sleep disturbances.

Prevalence

• Even though most people experience feelings of regular depression from time to time, at least 16 percent of the American population experiences a severe form of depression during some point of their lives. Women experience clinical depression at a rate of 10 to 20 percent, whereas men experience depression at a rate of 5 to 12 percent.

Duration

• Usually normal sadness or the general “blues” goes away in a few days. If a person experiences a set-back, she may bounce back and become her usual self. With clinical depression, the sadness does not easily dissipate. A clinically depressed individual who goes without treatment can develop a deep, dark, sad mood which can last for weeks or even months.

Outcomes

• If a person experiences regular depression treatments such as a change of diet, environment or perhaps profession often provide positive results. Sometimes just talking to a friend can improve regular depression. However, a clinically depressed person may have genetic, biological or environmental factors which contribute to the course of his disease.

Study on Abnormal Emotion Brain Circuits

• According to a study in a 2007 Science Daily article, brain imaging of healthy and clinically depressed people revealed that clinically depressed individuals appear to have more difficulty regulating their emotion brain circuits and thus, seem unable to recover from negative stimuli.

Considerations

• Normal depression like the "blues" usually doesn't pose a significant risk. However, if a person is clinically depressed and remains untreated for weeks or months there is a greater probability of suicidal ideations and perhaps death. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, suicide is the 4th leading cause of death for ages 18-65.