Sometimes depressions are classified according to whether or not
people have a reason to be depressed. Alonzo lost his wife, so his depres-
sion is reactive. Reactive depressions are usually intense and relatively
short-lived, though they can last for years.
Kinesha is depressed for no reason that we can see. Her depression is
endogenous, which means “from the inside.” Endogenous depressions arise
from internal chemical imbalances with no external cause and are thought
to have a hereditary component. Kinesha’s mother had bouts of depression as
well. Many depressions, like Kinesha’s and her mother’s, are episodic, having
periods of greater severity that last for several months and then get better.
Some depressions are interspersed with periods of high energy and
an artificially cheerful mood called manias.Carol’s is like that. Disorders
that have both components are called bipolar.Mood swings in bipolar dis-
order usually last several weeks to several months. Mood swings measured
in minutes or hours do not constitute bipolar disorder. They are usually
overreactions to immediate external circumstances, often related to hor-
monal excess in adolescence and to adolescent thinking in adulthood.
There are also some rapid hormonal mood swings associated with
menopause and premenstrual syndrome.
Some depressions are acute: short, sharp, and sometimes dangerous.
Others are chronic: dull, blurry, and lasting for years. If you have experience
with depressed people, you know that these distinctions are never as clear
face-to-face as they are on paper. People with acute depressions have
histories of chronic depressive tendencies. People who say they have no
reason to be depressed are clearly starving from a lack of emotional stim-
ulation, and manics laugh to keep from crying.
So, what is depression?
What follows are some patterns of thoughts, feelings, and actions
that are common, but by no means constant.
Melancholia
Often, depression is not so much sadness as the diminished capacity to be
happy. The extreme version is a black mood that settles like a pall before
dawn, waking people in darkness to show them only more darkness,
another dreary, colorless day. Melancholic people feel that life is empty,
148 ❧Explosions into Sadness