Who has clinical depression? How painful is clinical depression?

Anyone, whether adults or children, can have clinical depression.

The condition usually affects people from age 20 and above. However, clinical depression now occurs at any age.

How painful is clinical depression?

Clinically depressed patients often experience pain in different ways like headaches, back pain, sadness, irritability, and guilt.

What Is Clinical Depression?

Clinical depression, commonly referred to as major depressive disorder (MDD), is a mental illness whereby a person remains in a depressed mood for about two weeks, while showing signs of low self-esteem, and less interest in daily activities.

Clinical depression is usually diagnosed from reports of the person’s past experiences, and behavior. In other words, laboratory tests are not conducted.

Most cases of clinical depression occurs from the early adulthood like age 20 with females being the most affected.

Sometimes the disorder could last for a lifetime with “recurrent major depressive episodes.”

Clinical depression can be treated with psychotherapy and antidepressant medication.

In cases of self-neglect or where the depressed person has the tendency to harm himself or other people, the person may be hospitalized

If all these measures fail, then electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) may be considered as the next option.