A comprehensive support network for depression
Everyone feels low sometimes, and those feelings usually pass. Depression is different: it can cause severe symptoms that affect how a person feels, thinks, and handles daily activities like sleeping, eating, or working. It can affect anyone, and most people with depression benefit from treatment. This atlas gathers warning signs, appointment help, treatments, and family support, with a public source behind every claim.
What depression is
More than a bad week
Everyone feels low sometimes. Depression is different: symptoms last most of the day, nearly every day, for at least 2 weeks, and get in the way of work, school, relationships, and daily tasks. Genetic, biological, environmental, and psychological factors all play a role.
An estimated 21.0 million U.S. adults, 8.3% of all adults, had at least one major depressive episode in 2021.
Source: National Institute of Mental Health · Major depression statistics
Know the signs
Low mood, loss of interest, sleep and appetite changes, and how depression can look different by age.
Get checked
A primary care provider is a good place to start. Bring notes, your medicines, and your questions.
Treatment works
Talk therapy, medicines, or both, with brain stimulation and other options when first steps are not enough.
Support someone
Practical ways to help, how to ask about suicide, and how to look after yourself too.
Types of depression
Depression takes different forms
Names help match care to the person. They do not replace an evaluation by a health care provider.
Major depressive disorder
Also called major depression or clinical depression. A low mood or loss of interest that lasts most of the day, nearly every day, for at least 2 weeks and gets in the way of daily life.
Persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia)
Depression symptoms that are less severe than major depression but last much longer, usually at least 2 years. In children and teens the mood may be irritable and last at least 1 year.
Perinatal and postpartum depression
Depression during pregnancy or in the weeks and months after childbirth. It is more than the "baby blues", which are mild and usually fade within about 2 weeks.
Seasonal affective disorder (seasonal pattern)
Depression that comes and goes with the seasons, most often starting in late fall or early winter and lifting in spring and summer. A less common summer pattern also exists.
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)
A more severe form of premenstrual syndrome, with depression, irritability, and tension in the week before a period. Symptoms most often get better within a few days after the period starts.
Perimenopausal depression
Depression that affects some women during the transition to menopause. Mood swings and poor sleep are common in this transition, but more extreme irritability, anxiety, sadness, or loss of enjoyment may be depression.
· Types with sources · Treatments
Each type links to its source on the types page
For families
You can help, and you do not have to do it alone
Encourage a visit to a provider, offer patience and practical help, and learn the warning signs of suicide. Remind the person that with time and treatment, depression can lift.
If someone may be in danger
Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, free and confidential, 24/7. You can contact 988 for yourself or for someone you are worried about. In a life-threatening situation, call 911.