Do you think you might be struggling with depression? Are you worried about feeling weak or ashamed if you talk to someone about your feelings? It’s not uncommon for men to resist coming to therapy when they feel depressed. The shame they feel about talking about their feelings seems to them to outweigh the pain their depression is causing them.

Depression can be a difficult condition to live with regardless of gender, and the signs that you may have it are not always obvious. However, Steven Petrow writes in the New York Times how symptoms of depression in men may be masked as other issues, making a diagnosis even harder to determine.

I recently read a very interesting article, “Two Ways to Be Happy.” It argues that the stories we tell ourselves about our lives influence how we feel about ourselves.According to the article, there are two types of stories we tell ourselves about why things are they way they are.

Low self-esteem can be a symptom of depression, but it isn’t always. If a lack of self-esteem seems to be quite global—it’s not just that you feel inadequate in one particular area, but you feel like that across all areas of your life—then low self-esteem could be a symptom of depression.

If comparing yourself to others was a sign of depression, then everyone you know would be depressed. What’s more telling, is the way you see yourself, after each evaluation you make. Almost always finding yourself on the losing end of each comparison, might be a sign you’re depressed.

What is mindfulness? Mindfulness is a form of meditation that originated in Buddhist practice. The aim of mindfulness is to observe your thoughts and feelings, without trying to change or get caught up in them.In its simplest form, mindfulness involves sitting still and following your breath.

I don’t think Facebook causes depression, but I do think it can contribute to it. If you already have a robust sense of self-esteem, seeing your friends’ posts about promotions and parties isn’t going to cause you to become depressed.

How can you tell the difference between grief and depression? Grief and depression can look very similar. Both are characterized by low mood, a lack of motivation, a sense of hopelessness, and difficulty enjoying life. Depression and grief can also share physical characteristics, such as difficulty eating or sleeping.

The best answer to that question depends on two things: who’s asking, and what the answer means to that person. If you’re depressed and ask, “Is my depression a mental illness?” answering yes might mean to you that you have a chronic, untreatable condition that condemns you to bearing the heavy weight of depression for the rest of your life.

What are the psychological reasons for depression? Psychologically-based depressions result from overwhelming emotional or social circumstances. These kinds of depressions can usually be traced back to specific events in your life or to particular relationships.

Does depression after trauma look different from other kinds of depression? Not necessarily. The symptoms—loss of interest in life, emotional flatness, irritability, difficulties with sleeping, and so on—can be identical to the symptoms of other kinds of depression.

Depression feels different depending on who you are. One of the main ways depression appears in daily life is as a sense of hopelessness.Many of us have the preconception that being depressed means you feel low, consumed in a black cloud of sadness.

In 1961, Michael Foucault published his now famous book History of Madness. Foucault attempts to document the history and validity of modern psychiatric practice. Is psychiatry truly founded on scientific principals or is it just a series of subjective judgments?

Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote about the melancholy from which he suffered most of his life. Today, he might be on a regimen of anti-depressants, and his writing might show a progression of his condition from darkness to light.

If you have ever played the children’s game, What’s in Ned’s Head?, you have probably had a good time with preschoolers attempting to identify silly plastic objects, like bugs or cars, by touch alone. However, when you’re the victim of depression, what’s inside your head is not at all funny.

It may be shocking to some to discover that, according to the World Health Organization, the most prevalent and debilitating disease in the world is depression. This completely destroys the misconception that depression is a “first world problem.”

Daphne Merkin with TheNewYorkTimes.com recounts her struggles while battling depression, struggles that left her institutionalized several times. In the article, Merkin explores her concern about the way her depression has affected her daughter who is now 22 years old.

In light of the fact that an average of one in five adults suffers from depression, Perry Klass, Pediatric M.D., details the ways in which parents’ depression can negatively affect children. Poor school performance, strained peer relationships, increased emergency room visits,…

It has become increasingly clear that primary care physicians, pediatricians, obstetrician-gynecologists and internists must be more alert to depression in parents. A parent’s depression can be linked to many problems in the family, including how the children are cared for and how they fare.

Your pattern of internet use can offer clues to your mental well-being. In a recent study, 216 undergraduate volunteers from Missouri University of Science and Technology were tested for depression levels. Thirty percent met the criteria for depressive symptoms.