About Clinical Depression and This Page

Welcome to one of the oldest depression sites on the Web. Since 1995, Wing of Madness has been providing information and support to people trying to deal with their depression or that of someone they know.

This web page is about clinical depression. It addresses not the "down" mood which we all get from time to time and which leads us to say, "I'm depressed," but the often debilitating illness which affects one in five people, children as well as adults.

Clinical depression has many different facets, and affects not only someone's mood, but often also their ability to function normally. Many depressed people experience impaired memory, difficulty concentrating, and confused thought processes. Some people experience what seems like unbearable noise or pain in their head which is purely mental (not the product of a headache, etc.). It can become impossible to speak or smile normally. Obviously, clinical depression is much more complicated than "the blues."

Depressive disorders and companion illnesses come in many different forms and combinations, but three of the most common are major depression, dysthymia (low-level, long-term), and bipolar disorder (manic depression). Since I have suffered from the first two, I tend to concentrate on them more, as I'm very wary about giving information out on a topic that I don't know thoroughly. If you're looking for information on bipolar disorder, I recommend McMan's Depression and Bipolar Web.

If you are looking for information on diagnosing depression, you should start here. You'll find less "technical" descriptions of depression symptoms in What Does Depression Feel Like?.

Some popular articles on Wing of Madness:
What is Depression (and What is it Not?)
What Does Depression Feel Like?
Children and Depression
When Someone You Know is Depressed
What to Do (On and Off the Web) While Waiting for Your Antidepressants to Kick in

If you'd like to talk to other people with depression, visit our Depression Support Forum.

tags: antidepressant medication, antidepressants, coping with depression, depression, depression diagnosis, depression screening, depression symptoms, living with depression

My Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) wasn't diagnosed till I was in my late thirties. By that point, as you can imagine, I had developed coping strategies to get me through life, especially at work. So when my doctor asked if I would like to give treatment with medication a shot, although I couldn't imagine how it would help me, I agreed. We first started on Ritalin. I didn't notice any positive effect, as the heart palpitations I experienced were too distracting, and I discontinued the treatment after three days. We then tried Adderall, which had the same unpleasant effect.

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tags: add, adhd, adhd medication, adhd treatment, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder treatment

(HealthDay News) -- Don't automatically blame mom: A crying, colicky baby can be just as much the result of dad's state of mind, Dutch researchers report.

Other studies have found that depression among mothers can be related to excessive crying or colic, a common problem with newborns, but the researchers said that little was known about whether fathers' emotions and behavior also have an effect.

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tags: depressed parents, depression, depression and parenting

A new study suggests that stimulants prescribed for ADHD may be responsible for a handful of unexplained deaths in children and adolescents. Researchers compared medical records and parent interviews of children and teens who died between 1985 and 1996, including 564 who died from unexplained heart-rate abnormality. When they excluded deaths that had other possible causes--such as asthma or congenital heart defects--researchers found that 1.8 percent of the group had been taking a stimulant medication. However, researchers say the link between stimulants and sudden unexplained death is very rare.

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tags: add, adhd, adhd medication, adhd treatment, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder treatment

Control your browsing

What are your time sinks? I'm betting that one of them is browsing the Internet. It's a real trap for anyone with ADHD. All those interesting links that lead to new places, and you tell yourself that you're just going to surf for a couple of minutes. Next thing you know, an hour has gone by. There are A couple of options to control your surfing. If you have the Firefox browser, you can install the LeechBlock or Tea Timer addon. Or use the Title Bar Browser Timer or Minutes Please, in case you can't install anything on your work computer.

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tags: add, adhd, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Are some people hardwired to get the blues? Scientists have long believed that a tendency toward melancholy runs in families, much like dimpled chins and blue eyes. But the tricky part has been figuring out which genes are involved and how strongly they are correlated with a risk for developing depression.

A new study published on June 16 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) now threatens to send researchers back to the drawing board.

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tags: depression