Depression
Main Categories Of Depression:
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Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
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Persistent Depressive Disorder (PDD)
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Bipolar depression
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Postpartum Depression (PPD)
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Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
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Atypical Depression
To learn more about each main category of depression, check out the rest of the page.
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
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Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is commonly known as clinical depression
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It affects sleep quality (eg. not being able to sleep or sleeping too long), difficulty for concentrating, feeling worthless and guilty over existing
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It can cause problems in school or work, and develop further into suicidal thoughts
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These depressive episodes are separated by around 2 months
Persistent Depressive Disorder (PDD)
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An old name for it: Dysthymia
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The main difference compare to MDD is the duration of it
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It has a long lasting period, PDD lasts around 2 years (in adults)
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People with this depression can experience feelings of sadness, anger, irritability feelings of hopelessness, trouble concentrating
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Treatment for PDD involves medications and psychotherapy
Bipolar Depression
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Symptoms of Bipolar Depression: insomnia, unexplained aches/pains, anxiety, and disorganization
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Usually characterized by extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression)
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Episodes of mood swings may occur rarely or multiple times a year
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Bipolar Depression can last for 2 years. The risk of suicide is 15 times higher than people without it
Postpartum Depression (PPD)
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This kind of depression occurs in women who have recently given birth. It is based from hormonal changes in their body
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Feelings such as anxiety, trouble bonding with baby, suicidal thoughts or thoughts of hurting oneself are all common symptoms of PPD
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It has a large range of effects, in the worst case it can go up to postpartum psychosis (will be confused and possibly hallucinate)
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
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This is a major depressive disorder with seasonal pattern
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Sometimes this disorder can be triggered by irregular circadian rhythm
Atypical Depression
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This kind of depression has atypical such as your depressed mood can brighten in response to positive events
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Other key symptoms include:
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Increased appetite
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Sleeping too much
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Feeling that your arms or legs are heavy
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Feeling rejected
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Schimelpfening, Nancy, “7 Common Types of Depression”, Updated on January 13, 2021
Zambon, Veronica, Medically reviewed by Alex Klein, PsyD, “What are the differences between major and persistent depressive disorder?”, May 19, 2020