http://www.save.org/tally.shtml
These are several questions and answers about the disease called depression. Please read all of these carefully, since it is very important that you understand your disease as thoroughly as possible.
l. WHAT IS DEPRESSION? It is a disease affecting the entire mind and body, causing a person to feel miserable in many ways. Changes in brain chemistry make it happen. It is a brain disease.
2. WHAT CAUSES DEPRESSION? We do not know. We used to think it was due to something unhappy in a person's life or to some psychological hang-up. We now know, however, that this disease happens to people who have no reason "to be depressed." In other words, depression can strike normal and healthy people.
3. DOES HAVING A DEPRESSION MEAN THAT A PERSON IS GOING "CRAZY"'? NO, but it will very often make him think he is.
4. IS IT A COMMON DISEASE? Yes, it is the most common disease seen in all of medicine; however, it is often confused with other illnesses. For example, many people who think, or who are told, they have low blood, vitamin deficiency, sinus headaches, low sugar, menopause, burnout, and "all run-down and need a rest" actually have depression that causes their troubles.