Depression is one of the human body's normal and natural responses to crisis, transition, or change. Most people are depressed at some point following the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, even at the birth of a child! These depressions tend to be short-term, lasting for a period of days, or in extreme cases, weeks. However, the individual who is depressed often acquires or develops coping mechanisms to deal with the crisis or change, and the depression lifts as they develop more and more ability in the new situation.

However, there are other people for whom depression is not a one time or passing thing - they live with it day in and day out. This is called clinical depression. Right now, science is trying to determine definitively whether depression is the result of genetic factors, environmental triggers, physical crisis or a combination of factors.

It seems fairly clear that much of depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. In addition to being the center of thought, the brain is like a large chemical factory - it produces an incredible number of chemical substances which are sent through the body to maintain or change the human body. Sometimes, when the brain develops a "glitch" from a depressive trigger, it thwarts the body's ability to manufacture or use these chemicals. The result is often that a person is left without a sense of well being, confidence, or pleasure - in other words, they are depressed.

There are many forms of depression. Some are marked by wide mood swings from despair to euphoria, others display themselves by behavior that goes from bad to worse. Some of these chemical imbalances are the source of constant, nail-biting anxiety, others the likely cause of violent anger.

One good way to understand depression is to look at diabetes. When an individual contracts diabetes, their body stops using the insulin produced by the pancreas. Insulin is a natural body chemical which allows food to be used as fuel. When this occurs, the only way for a diabetic to survive is to use medication, exercise, and a careful diet. Notice that talking doesn't do any good - you can talk to a diabetic until you are blue in the face, and they can intellectually understand how their disease works, but unless they get the proper medication, diet, and exercise, talking won't help.=/