Depression is an equal opportunity disorder, it can affect any group of people of any background, race, sex or age. Depression is a sneaky thief that slips silently and gradually into people's lives, robbing them of their time and concentration. At first, depression may be subtle, but in the long run a person may feel so burdened that their life may seem empty and meaningless. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone who commits suicide is depressed, but most people who commit suicide do so during a major depressive episode. Today, there are over 300 million people in the world who suffer from depression. Depression has been affecting people for as long as records have been kept. It was first mentioned by the famous Greek philosopher Hippocrates over 2,400 years ago. Hippocrates called it “melancholia”. Many times we think of depression as a single disorder, when in reality there are many different types of depression. The different types of depression are major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, atypical disorder, adjustment disorder, and depressive personality disorder. All types of depression share at least one common symptom. It is normal for the person suffering from any form of depression to feel unshakable sadness, anxious or empty mood. Major depressive disorder also known as unipolar depression or relapsing depressive disorder is, in my opinion, the most serious depressive disorder of all depressants. Major depressive disorder is a condition in which it affects a person's family, work or school life, sleep, nutrition, and overall health. Importantly, we can understand the mechanisms of this disorder and how it affects people with major depressive disorder. Et...... half of the document ...... medicine. Horwitz, Allan. (2010). How an age of anxiety became an age of depression. , 88(1), p112-138. Mcbride, Carolina. Zuroff, David. Ravitz, Paula. Koestner, Richard. Moskowitz, Debbie. Quilty, Lena. Bagby, Michael. (2010). British Journal of Clinical Psychology. , 49(4), p529-545.O'Grady, M. (2010). History of depression, vulnerability to depression, and experience of daily negative events. Journal Of Social & Clinical Psychology, 29(9), 949-974. Vaccarino, A. H. (2008). Anxiety symptoms in depression: Evaluation of Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale item performance in patients with depression. Depression and anxiety (1091-4269), 25(12), 1006-1013.Taubner, Svenja. Kessler, Henrik. Buchheim, Anna. Kachele, Horst. Staun, Lenka. (2011). The role of mentalization in the psychoanalytic treatment of chronic depression. , 74(1), p49-57.