Depression. There's many words for it; down, blue, phase, unhappy, and the most popular one, sad. That's not true though, depression does not mean, has not ever meant, and will never mean, that one is simply just "sad". To say that a depressed person is "sad" would be like saying that only a few people have ever read Harry Potter or Lord of The Rings. In other words, it's a complete and utter understatement. You may be asking yourself why that is, and I'm here to take you on a journey to explain exactly that. Let's start at the beginning.

Depression is a medical diagnosis, and not one to be taken lightly. Like many medical diagnoses, there are several types of depression. I will only be talking about two: Major and Chronic.

The one most people refer to when talking about depression is Major Depressive Disorder. People who have major depressive disorder- commonly referred to as simply "major depression"- they are depressed for most days of the week. Although everybody experiences depression in different ways- it's quite subjective- many experience a loss of interest in activities that used to give them pleasure. Like reading, or a favorite sport. Most feel tired and without energy, regardless of whether or not they've been getting an adequate amount of sleep. Some also have trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep, and on the other end of the spectrum, some may feel sleepy throughout the day. Another common symptom of major depression is weight gain or weight loss. Also, those with major depression usually have thoughts of either guilt or worthlessness.

Chronic depression is similar, however, while Major Depression may not interfere with how one lives their life (depending upon the severity), Chronic Depression most certainly will. A long term form of depression, symptoms will often last for two years, and many much longer. The symptoms, however, are the same; people will lose interest in activities, feel fatigued, may have problems with sleep, have low self-esteem, and feel generally inadequate.

The next stop on the depression train is differences. I suppose that sounds kind of odd, does it not? Well, let me explain a bit more. What I mean by "differences" is self-harm, eating disorders, and suicidal tendencies or thoughts.

You must understand that most people hear the word depression and think of one of those three things. Let me clear that up. Self-harm is quite different. Yes, it is very closely associated with depression, and those who self harm are usually depressed, however, that is not true if you flip the statement. Many people who are depressed do not self-harm. Granted, there are quite a few who do, however, and let me stress this for you, not every depressed person does.

The same is true for eating disorders, known in certain circles as ED's. Many who are anorexic or bulimic- or both- are depressed. It's like I said though, not every depressed person, not even most depressed people have an ED. In fact, some people with depression may not have a poor self-body image at all.

And now we get to the biggie. Suicide. Or rather, feeling suicidal or suicidal tendencies. I'm going to simply lay it out straight for you: Depression does not mean suicidal. Many people who are depressed are not suicidal. Understand? And unlike the other two, there is a number of suicides that have no relation to depression, at all.

For the third stop, I will be talking about those who are depressed. One thing you must realise is that depression comes in many shapes and sizes. The "emo" girl or boy? It's actually quite unlikely they're depressed. The girl who wears combat boots and ripped up black clothes? Same odds of being depressed as the "emo" kids. It might be someone completely unexpected whose depressed- maybe the straight-A student who is always quiet? Or the popular kid who never is alone? Maybe even the girl or boy whose always trying to make others smile and is always smiling herself? What I'm trying to say is get rid of those stereo types, because that's all they are. A stereo type.

Depression, no matter the type or the form it comes in, is an endless black abyss that never really ends, just keeps going on and on. Too many have fallen into that black pit and too few have climbed out. It's a darkness, a disease, and it's becoming an epidemic, a pandemic. In the society we live in today, there are too many who live with that darkness and at the same time too many who don't realise what that darkness means. So very few ever come out of the darkness, see the light again, because to see the light, they need to be guided. Take this to heart, and maybe one day you'll be that guide.