Depression is a state of moderate to intense sadness or melancholia.  Sufferers of depression state they feel sad or down for no apparent reason.  The effects of depression affect most or all activities of an individual’s life.  These effects can be mild and transient to debilitating and severe.  Depression is often referred to as unipolar depression.  All depression has a both a type and cause.  Various types and causes of depression have been described, all of which are well documented.  In treating the only symptoms of depression, which is the depression itself, the cause has been ignored.  The proper treatment of depression should be focused on addressing the actual cause, rather than purely symptomatic relief.  If the cause of depression was removed, any depression would resolve on its own.

Depression has many causes.  Some causes of depression have a physiological basis, other causes have dietary, environmental, social or psychological factors involved.  Psychological factors often play a significant role.  In many cases, depression has specific known causes, and is often classified based upon the causative factor(s).  Objective evidence is rarely, if ever, present in most forms of depression.  Subjective evidence supporting the classification is, on the other hand, almost always present.  No specific laboratory tests are diagnostic of depression.  Laboratory tests, however, are often performed specifically to identify any potential illnesses or disorder that may be causing the associated symptoms of depression.  In some cases, the diagnosis of depression is offered on the basis of exclusion, based purely on patient history and current subjective complaints.  A diagnosis of exclusion is issued when no other explanation for the signs and symptoms can be found.  In many cases, the cause is not searched for following the diagnosis of depression.

If the cause of depression can be discovered, elimination of the causative factors would cause the depression to cease, and is the only logical treatment leading to a cure.  In some cases, multiple causative factors may be present.  In essence, having more than one type of depression at the same time is a distinct possibility.  While this does not seem fair, it is often the case.  A patient can have postpartum depression in conjunction with Seasonal Affective Disorder, which exemplifies this quite well.  In identifying the various types of depression, a better understanding of the appropriate treatment is gained.

If the specific type of depression is incorrectly diagnosed, the treatment may provide no benefit.  Light therapy, for example, is often prescribed for Seasonal Affective Disorder.  One study indicated that light therapy was not found superior to the placebo effect in the treatment of depression.  This study obviously did not take into consideration the type of depression suffered by the patient.  Other studies indicate great success in the treatment of depression with light therapy.  In the latter studies, the lack of exposure to sunlight was a significant causative factor in depression.  Exposure to sunlight, therefore, alleviates depression if lack of exposure to sunlight is the cause.  The type of depression, therefore, dictates the appropriate treatment.  Proper diagnosis and treatment, therefore, are of the utmost importance.

In the depressed individual, elimination of depression is not the goal.  To eliminate depression, fulfilling the definition of health is the true goal.  In moving toward the goal of true health, health problems, including depression, are left in the wake.  If one can obtain perfect harmony of the whole person in body, mind, and spirit, and perfect harmony within the social and physical environment, depression simply would not exist.  If any prior depression did exist, it would be long gone when perfect harmony is attained.