> > You are listing many signs of depression and that is enough to warrent seeking professional help for a diagnosis. You don't need a psychiatrist, ... Some depression is situational and others chronic. There are many medications that could help [...]

> My mom wrote this. She is a psychologist, and I asked for her input. I told her what my screen name was, so I guess she decided to use it. Eh...
>

LOL. It did sound a little forward!

My reaction to Den-Kara's post was a little more muted. She was asking how she could tell the signs of depression for herself. A sense of heaviness, wanting to cry, tightness in one's throat and chest, and insomnia are usually a good indication of a depressed mood, yes. But the two main indicators should rest on what Dagmar said: that the duration of these depressed symptoms has been 2 weeks or more; and that they are beginning to impair one's day-to-day functioning in a significant manner.

It's necessary to distinguish "depression" from a sense of normal unhappiness... sadness... or a general feeling of the "blues". These feelings happen to everyone; no one can escape from experiencing some degree of unhappiness. Someone called eyesore once noted, "Unhappiness needn't necessarily turn into depression. The line between them is vague, but it seems that depression is the unreasonable continuation of unhappiness that begins to feed on itself." This might be a fair rule of thumb to keep in mind.

Another thing to consider is that there are a number of medical problems (like anemia or an underactive thyroid) which can lead to depression. So it probably would be best to follow Luba's mom's advice and see a medical doctor. It's also a good idea to check that the doctor takes a complete history and does a complete physical evaluation. I'd be a little wary of an M.D. who just listens to a description of your symptoms, and then immediately scrawls out a prescription for psychoactive medication.

Wolf"/act HUG" spirit