Welcome to Wing of Madness Depression Guide

This website is about clinical depression, also referred to as major depression or major depressive disorder. Here we address 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?)
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