Table of Contents
Introduction: The Gulf Between the Checklist and the Collapse
There is a moment from my early years as a clinician that I will never forget.
I was sitting with a patient, a man in his forties whose life was quietly but completely disintegrating.
After a thorough evaluation, I delivered the diagnosis with what I thought was professional clarity: “What you are experiencing meets the criteria for Major Depressive Disorder, single episode, moderate.” I expected this label to bring a sense of relief, a name for his suffering.
Instead, a look of profound invalidation washed over his face.
“Moderate?” he asked, his voice hollow.
“It feels like the end of the world.”
In that moment, the immense gulf between our clinical language and the lived reality of depression became painfully clear.
My diagnosis, technically correct according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), had reduced his private apocalypse to a sterile, manageable-sounding category.1
It was a map that, while accurate in its coordinates, failed to capture the terrifying nature of the territory.
This experience set me on a professional journey to answer a critical question: How can we use the precise language of clinical diagnosis without losing the human soul of the experience? How do we talk about the “levels” of depression in a way that honors the totality of the collapse a person feels?
This report is the culmination of that journey.
It argues that understanding the gradations of depression requires more than just counting symptoms on a checklist.2
It requires a new framework, a new way of seeing.
The standard clinical specifiers—mild, moderate, severe—are essential guideposts, but they are not the full story.
To truly comprehend them, we must see depression not as a linear scale of sadness, but as a progressive ecological collapse of a person’s inner world.
This report will introduce a new paradigm for understanding this illness, viewing a person’s mental state as a complex, interconnected ecosystem.
The levels of depression will be presented not as rungs on a ladder but as stages of this ecosystem’s crisis—from a prolonged, draining drought to a catastrophic, all-consuming wildfire.
By journeying through this model, we will explore the clinical definitions, the lived experiences, and the pathways to recovery, ultimately providing a more integrated, compassionate, and useful map for navigating this devastating condition.
Part I: The New Paradigm – Depression as an Ecosystem in Crisis
The turning point in my understanding of depression did not come from a medical journal or a psychiatric conference.
It came from the seemingly unrelated field of ecology.
I began to see the parallels between a struggling natural landscape and a struggling human mind.
A healthy ecosystem, much like a psychologically healthy person, is not a static state of perfection.
It is a dynamic system defined by resilience, resource management, and profound interconnectedness.
It possesses biodiversity (a range of coping skills, interests, relationships), a steady flow of energy (motivation, pleasure), and the ability to maintain homeostasis—to absorb shocks like storms or droughts and bounce back.3
This resilience is not about being happy all the time; it is about having a robust internal system that can process and recover from life’s inevitable challenges.
From this perspective, depression is the process of this ecosystem breaking down.
The clinical symptoms listed in diagnostic manuals are not a random collection of unfortunate feelings; they are the predictable, cascading consequences of a system in crisis.
The “levels” of depression—mild, moderate, and severe—directly correspond to the severity of this systemic breakdown.
This paradigm reframes the experience in a way that makes intuitive sense of its most baffling features.
This ecological model allows us to move beyond a simple checklist of symptoms and understand their underlying mechanics.
For instance, the DSM-5 lists “fatigue or loss of energy” and “diminished ability to think, concentrate, or make decisions” as two separate criteria for Major Depressive Disorder.5
In the ecosystem model, these are not separate problems but deeply connected consequences of a single, larger process: a systemic energy crisis.
A healthy mind, like a thriving forest, efficiently cycles psychological energy to power motivation, focus, emotional regulation, and social connection.
When a major stressor occurs—a job loss, a death, chronic illness, or trauma—it is like a severe drought descending upon the landscape.
It puts an immense strain on the system’s energy budget.
In depression, this energy deficit becomes chronic and self-perpetuating.
The pervasive “fatigue” is the tangible experience of this core energy depletion.
Consequently, the brain begins to ration its remaining power.
Higher-order cognitive functions like concentration, planning, and decision-making are the first to be taken offline, leading to the “brain fog” and indecisiveness that so many report.7
The “loss of interest or pleasure,” known clinically as anhedonia, is the system shutting down non-essential energy expenditures.
Why waste precious fuel on hobbies or social events when basic survival is at stake?
This reframing explains why well-intentioned but simplistic advice like “just try to concentrate harder” or “focus on the positive” is so futile and frustrating for someone with depression.8
It is akin to standing in a drought-stricken land and telling it to “just be greener.” It fundamentally misunderstands that the visible symptoms are the result of a catastrophic failure in the underlying resources required for life to flourish.
Part II: The Stages of Ecological Collapse: Mapping the Levels of Depression
By viewing depression through the lens of a collapsing ecosystem, the clinical specifiers of mild, moderate, and severe transform from abstract labels into vivid descriptions of a progressive crisis.
Each level represents a more profound and widespread breakdown of the internal landscape, with increasingly devastating consequences for the individual’s ability to function.
Section 2.1: The Drought (Mild Depression) – When Resources Dwindle and Colors Fade
A mild depressive episode is like a prolonged, grinding drought.
The ecosystem is still fundamentally intact and recognizable, but it is operating under significant strain.
The vibrant colors of the landscape have faded to muted tones.
The streams of energy and motivation run low.
The plants of interest and enjoyment are stressed and withered.
Everything requires more effort to survive.
This is often the stage of so-called “high-functioning depression,” where a person can still meet the basic demands of life, but at a tremendous internal cost.7
From the outside, the person may seem fine, but internally they are struggling.
They experience a persistent low or irritable mood, a noticeable loss of pleasure in hobbies and activities they once loved, and a nagging fatigue that sleep doesn’t resolve.10
Life feels as if it’s being lived in grayscale, a joyless slog through daily obligations.
They may notice a subtle but real decline in their performance at work or school, interpreting it as personal failure rather than a symptom of their illness.10
It is at this point that a clinical diagnosis often first becomes relevant.
To understand any level of depression, we must first understand the foundational diagnostic map used by clinicians worldwide: the DSM-5 criteria for a Major Depressive Episode.
| Table 1: The Clinical Blueprint: DSM-5 Criteria for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) 2 |
| To receive a diagnosis of MDD, an individual must experience five or more of the following symptoms during the same two-week period, representing a change from previous functioning. At least one of the symptoms must be either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure. |
| 1. Depressed Mood: Feeling sad, empty, hopeless, or appearing tearful to others. In children and adolescents, this can manifest as an irritable mood. |
| 2. Markedly Diminished Interest or Pleasure (Anhedonia): A significant loss of interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day. |
| 3. Significant Weight Change or Appetite Change: Unintentional weight loss or gain (e.g., a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month), or a decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day. |
| 4. Sleep Disturbance (Insomnia or Hypersomnia): Difficulty sleeping or sleeping too much, nearly every day. |
| 5. Psychomotor Agitation or Retardation: Observable restlessness (e.g., pacing, hand-wringing) or slowed-down movements, speech, and thinking that is noticeable to others. |
| 6. Fatigue or Loss of Energy: Feeling tired and lacking energy nearly every day, where even small tasks require extra effort. |
| 7. Feelings of Worthlessness or Excessive Guilt: Feeling worthless or experiencing excessive or inappropriate guilt (which may be delusional) nearly every day. |
| 8. Diminished Ability to Think or Concentrate: Impaired ability to think, concentrate, or make decisions, reported by the individual or observed by others. |
| 9. Recurrent Thoughts of Death or Suicide: Recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal ideation without a specific plan, a suicide attempt, or a specific plan for committing suicide. |
| Additional Required Criteria: |
| – The symptoms must cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. |
| – The episode is not attributable to the physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or another medical condition. |
| – The episode is not better explained by a psychotic disorder like schizophrenia. |
| – There has never been a manic or hypomanic episode. |
A diagnosis of Mild Depression is given when an individual meets these core criteria but has few, if any, symptoms beyond the five required.
The key distinction is that while the symptoms are distressing, they are considered manageable, and they result in only minor impairment in social or occupational life.13
This maps perfectly to the drought analogy: the ecosystem is under duress and its resources are dwindling, but it has not yet begun to fundamentally unravel.
Section 2.2: The Keystone Species Die-Off (Moderate Depression) – When the System Begins to Unravel
If a drought persists, the ecosystem becomes vulnerable to a more catastrophic event: the loss of a keystone species.
This could be the disappearance of a primary pollinator like bees, or a top predator like wolves that keeps other populations in check.
The loss of this single, critical element does not just affect one part of the system; it triggers a cascade of failures that causes the entire ecosystem to visibly unravel.
This is the stage of Moderate Depression.
At this level, the internal struggle is no longer subtle.
The effort to maintain a facade of normalcy becomes unsustainable, and the impairment to a person’s life is no longer minor—it is obvious and disruptive.7
They may begin to withdraw from friends and family, call in sick to work frequently, or neglect household responsibilities.
The symptoms from the DSM-5 list are more numerous, more intense, or both.13
Feelings of worthlessness, guilt, and hopelessness become more profound and harder to dismiss.14
It is often at this stage, when the unraveling becomes undeniable, that individuals or their concerned loved ones first seek professional help.
This is also the stage where the devastating inadequacy of toxic positivity becomes most apparent.
Telling someone in a moderate depression to “just be positive” or “snap out of it” is like telling an ecosystem that has lost its pollinators to “just grow more flowers”.8
This advice is not merely unhelpful; it is actively harmful because it demonstrates a complete failure to grasp the systemic nature of the crisis.
It implicitly blames the individual for a state of being that is no more a matter of choice than a forest fire Is.9
Personal accounts are filled with the pain and isolation caused by this kind of misguided “support,” which makes the sufferer feel blamed for their own illness and misunderstood by those they trust.16
The advice completely invalidates the reality that their internal “keystone species”—be it self-worth, motivation, or hope—has died off, and the entire system is failing as a result.
Clinically, the stage of moderate depression, especially when it is a recurrent pattern, represents a critical diagnostic juncture.
It is essential for clinicians to look beyond the immediate depressive episode and investigate the possibility of an underlying Bipolar Disorder.
The “lows” experienced in Bipolar II Disorder are, by definition, Major Depressive Episodes, often moderate or severe in intensity.
They look and feel identical to what is called unipolar depression.18
However, the treatment is profoundly different.
Prescribing a standard antidepressant to someone with Bipolar Disorder without a companion mood stabilizer can be ineffective at best and, at worst, can trigger a hypomanic or manic episode, exacerbating the illness.19
This requires a shift in clinical inquiry.
When a patient presents with what appears to be a second or third episode of moderate depression, the diagnosis of “Major Depressive Disorder, recurrent, moderate” might seem obvious.2
However, the pattern of recurrence is a crucial signal to dig deeper.
The defining feature of Bipolar II Disorder is the presence of at least one
hypomanic episode in the person’s history.18
Hypomania is a period of elevated mood, energy, and activity that is less extreme than full-blown mania.
It can be subtle and is often experienced by the individual not as a problem, but as a welcome period of high productivity, creativity, and confidence.3
They may not report it as a symptom.
Therefore, the clinician must actively screen for these past “highs” to make the correct diagnosis.
In our analogy, this is the moment the ecologist realizes the problem isn’t just a series of droughts, but a volatile climate pattern of extreme, dangerous highs followed by devastating lows.
| Table 2: A Critical Distinction: Unipolar vs. Bipolar Depression 3 |
| :— | Major Depressive Disorder (Unipolar) | Bipolar I Disorder | Bipolar II Disorder |
| Core Experience | Consists of one or more Major Depressive Episodes (the “lows”).
| Consists of at least one Manic Episode (an extreme “high”).
Major Depressive Episodes are common but not required for diagnosis.
| Consists of at least one Hypomanic Episode (a less extreme “high”) and at least one Major Depressive Episode.
|
| Nature of “Highs” | None.
No history of manic or hypomanic episodes.
| Mania: A distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood and increased energy, lasting at least one week.
Causes severe impairment in functioning and may require hospitalization or involve psychotic features.
| Hypomania: Similar to mania but less severe.
Lasts at least four consecutive days.
The episode is an observable change from normal functioning but is not severe enough to cause marked impairment or necessitate hospitalization.
|
| Nature of “Lows” | Major Depressive Episode: Meets the full DSM-5 criteria for depression.
| Major Depressive Episode: Meets the full DSM-5 criteria.
Depressive episodes in Bipolar I are often severe.
| Major Depressive Episode: Meets the full DSM-5 criteria.
People with Bipolar II often spend more time in depressive phases than in hypomanic ones.
|
| Typical Treatment Approach | Antidepressants, psychotherapy.
| Mood stabilizers are the cornerstone of treatment.
Antidepressants are used cautiously, if at all, due to the risk of inducing mania.
Antipsychotics may also be used.
| Mood stabilizers and/or antipsychotics are primary.
Antidepressants are used with caution due to the risk of inducing hypomania or rapid cycling.
|
Section 2.3: The Wildfire (Severe Depression) – The Annihilation of the Landscape
When the ecosystem’s resilience is completely gone, a single spark can ignite a wildfire that consumes everything.
This is Severe Depression.
It is a state of total systemic collapse, an overwhelming crisis that suspends the normal rules of functioning.
The internal landscape is burned, unrecognizable, and seemingly devoid of life.
The suffering is no longer a feature of life; it is life.
The lived experience of severe depression is one of profound and unmanageable anguish.
The symptoms are so intense and numerous that they “markedly interfere with social and occupational functioning”.13
This is not just struggling at work; this is being unable to work at all.
This is not just feeling tired; this is being unable to perform the most basic acts of self-care, such as getting out of bed, showering, or eating.17
The feelings of worthlessness are no longer fleeting thoughts but a core, unshakable belief.
The cognitive slowing can become so pronounced that conversation is difficult.
And at this level, thoughts of death are not just a passing idea but can become a persistent, consuming preoccupation, born from a desperate desire to escape an unbearable pain.7
Clinically, a diagnosis of Severe Depression is given when the number of symptoms is “substantially in excess” of the five required for diagnosis, their intensity is “seriously distressing and unmanageable,” and the functional impairment is profound.13
Within this category, clinicians can add a crucial specifier: “with psychotic features.” This is when the wildfire of depression becomes so intense that it alters the very atmosphere of reality.
The person begins to experience delusions (false, fixed beliefs) or hallucinations (sensory experiences without an external stimulus), typically with themes that are congruent with their depressed mood, such as profound guilt over a minor past transgression, a belief that they are rotting from a terrible disease, or hearing voices that confirm their worthlessness.11
It is also within the context of severe depression that we often encounter Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD).
This is diagnosed when a person’s symptoms do not improve sufficiently after trying at least two different standard antidepressant treatments at an adequate dose and duration.19
In our analogy, this is a wildfire that is immune to conventional firefighting methods, requiring more specialized and intensive interventions.
The journey of those with TRD, like that of advocate Imadé Nibokun, highlights the immense perseverance required to fight a blaze that refuses to be extinguished.21
Part III: Reforestation – The Principles of Rebuilding a Ruined World
Describing the stages of ecological collapse is only half the story.
The true value of the ecosystem paradigm lies in how it illuminates the path to recovery.
You cannot command a burned forest to regrow; you must engage in the slow, deliberate, and hopeful work of reforestation.
This process provides a powerful metaphor for the principles of treating depression, shifting the focus from a “quick fix” to a long-term strategy of rebuilding a ruined world.
Section 3.1: Preparing the Soil (Establishing Safety and Stability)
The first rule of reforestation is that you cannot plant new trees in a landscape that is still on fire or where the soil is toxic.
The first, non-negotiable step is to create a safe and stable environment for new growth to have a chance.
In the context of depression treatment, this translates to establishing foundational safety and stability.
This primary phase involves ensuring the person’s physical safety, which is of paramount importance if they are experiencing suicidal thoughts or behaviors.20
It means addressing the absolute basics of human functioning that the illness has disrupted: working to regulate sleep patterns, ensuring adequate nutrition, and reducing major external life stressors wherever possible, such as financial or relationship problems that may be fueling the depression.19
This stage is not about “curing” the depression; it is about putting out the active fires and clearing the contaminated ground to create a baseline from which the real work of recovery can begin.
Section 3.2: Planting the Saplings (Targeted Interventions)
Once the soil is prepared, the active work of reforestation can commence.
This is not a random scattering of seeds; it is the strategic planting of specific species that are best suited to the damaged landscape.
These are the targeted, evidence-based interventions of modern mental healthcare.
Psychotherapy, particularly modalities like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Interpersonal Therapy (IPT), can be seen as planting hardy, native saplings.
These therapies help the individual identify and change the patterns of thought and behavior that contribute to depression, much like planting trees with deep root systems that can hold the soil together, prevent future erosion, and eventually support a whole new ecosystem of resilience.9
Medication, such as antidepressants, can be analogized to adding essential nutrients and fertilizers to the depleted soil.
For many people, especially those with moderate to severe depression, the biological changes in the brain are so significant that the soil is too barren for new psychological growth to take hold on its own.10
Medications can help restore the neurochemical balance, enriching the soil and making it possible for the saplings of therapy and new coping skills to grow.
For most people with moderate to severe depression, the most effective approach is a combination of both—planting the saplings of therapy in the enriched soil provided by medication.10
Section 3.3: Protecting New Growth (Long-Term Recovery and Resilience)
Reforestation is a long, slow process.
A burned forest does not recover in a season.
The new growth is fragile and vulnerable; it must be protected from new droughts, invasive species, and other threats as it matures.
This is a crucial, often overlooked, aspect of depression recovery.
It is not a singular event but a long-term commitment to nurturing and protecting one’s mental health.
This is where the wisdom from personal recovery stories becomes so invaluable.
These stories are not about a magical cure but about the ongoing work of cultivating a new, more resilient internal landscape.
For some, like Dan, this involves creating a “bucket list project” that provides a sense of agency, purpose, and forward momentum—acting as a fence to protect the new growth from the invasive weeds of anxiety.22
For others, like Tristan, it is a journey from “rock bottom to rebuilding his life,” transforming the struggle itself into a new source of clarity and purpose.22
A critical part of protecting this new growth is changing one’s relationship with the external environment.
Amit’s story of confronting the pressure to “appear strong” and speaking openly about his mental health illustrates this perfectly.22
By refusing to accept the stigma, he changes the social climate, making it less toxic and more supportive of his recovery.
Ultimately, recovery is not about trying to restore the old ecosystem exactly as it was before the fire.
The fire changes the landscape forever.
Recovery is about cultivating a new ecosystem, one that is often wiser, more resilient, and more deeply understood than the one that came before.
This profound truth is captured in Imadé Nibokun’s reflection on her journey with treatment-resistant depression: “I can never be the person I was before…
And I don’t want to be”.21
The recovery process itself fosters a new kind of strength, born from having survived the collapse and learned, painstakingly, how to bring life back to the ashes.
Conclusion: Navigating with a Better Map
The journey through the levels of depression is one of the most isolating experiences a human being can endure.
The clinical language we use to map this territory, while essential for diagnosis and treatment, can sometimes deepen that isolation, reducing a profound human crisis to a set of impersonal codes.
The patient I met early in my career did not feel his world was “moderate”; he felt it was ending.
He was right.
His world was ending.
The ecosystem of his mind was collapsing.
By integrating the clinical framework of the DSM-5 with the holistic, intuitive paradigm of an ecosystem in crisis, we do not discard our scientific map.
Instead, we learn to read it with depth, context, and compassion.
We begin to see the symptoms not as a checklist but as the interconnected signs of a systemic failure.
We understand that “mild” is a draining drought, “moderate” is a fundamental unraveling, and “severe” is an all-consuming wildfire.
This new map allows us, as clinicians, friends, family members, and individuals, to better locate where someone is in their journey and to respond not with simplistic platitudes, but with the support that is truly needed.
| Table 3: From Clinical Specifier to Lived Experience: Decoding the Levels of Depression |
| :— | DSM-5 Guideline 13
| Ecosystem Analogy | The Lived Experience |
| Mild | Few, if any, symptoms in excess of the minimum required for diagnosis.
Distressing but manageable, with minor impairment in functioning.
| The Drought: The landscape is faded and stressed.
Resources are low, and everything requires more effort.
The system is strained but intact.
| “I can still go to work and pay my bills, but all the color is gone from my life.
Nothing feels good anymore.
I’m exhausted all the time, even when I sleep.” 7 |
| Moderate | The number of symptoms, their intensity, and/or functional impairment are between “mild” and “severe.” Noticeable problems at work, school, or in social life.
| The Keystone Die-Off: A critical element of the system fails, triggering a cascade of problems.
The ecosystem begins to visibly unravel.
| “I’ve stopped seeing my friends.
I can’t focus at my job and I’m afraid I’ll be fired.
I feel worthless, like I’m a burden to everyone.
People tell me to cheer up, but they don’t get it.” 14 |
| Severe | The number of symptoms is substantially in excess of what’s required.
Intensity is seriously distressing and unmanageable.
Marked interference with all functioning.
| The Wildfire: A total, all-consuming collapse.
The landscape is burned, unrecognizable, and the normal rules of functioning are suspended in an overwhelming crisis.
| “I can’t get out of bed.
The pain is physical.
My mind tells me I’m a horrible person and deserve this.
The only thing I can think about is making it stop.
It’s the end of the world.” 7 |
This integrated understanding has transformed my own clinical practice.
It allows me to sit with a patient and validate the magnitude of their experience, to say, “Yes, it feels like the end of the world because a world inside you is ending.” From that place of shared understanding, we can begin the slow, courageous, and hopeful work of reforestation.
We can acknowledge the fire, prepare the soil, and together, begin to plant the seeds of a new landscape, one that may one day be stronger and more resilient than ever before.
Works cited
- DSM-5: What It Is & What It Diagnoses – Cleveland Clinic, accessed on August 9, 2025, https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/24291-diagnostic-and-statistical-manual-dsm-5
- Coding for Major Depressive Disorder, accessed on August 9, 2025, https://vitruvianhealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/AAPC_Depressive-Disorder-ICD-10-BH_Ref_Guide.pdf
- Mood disorders – Symptoms and causes – Mayo Clinic, accessed on August 9, 2025, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mood-disorders/symptoms-causes/syc-20365057
- Depression – National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), accessed on August 9, 2025, https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression
- Table 9, DSM-IV to DSM-5 Major Depressive Episode/Disorder Comparison – NCBI, accessed on August 9, 2025, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519712/table/ch3.t5/
- DSM-5 Criteria for Major Depressive Disorder – MDCalc, accessed on August 9, 2025, https://www.mdcalc.com/calc/10195/dsm-5-criteria-major-depressive-disorder
- Clinical depression: What does that mean? – Mayo Clinic, accessed on August 9, 2025, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/expert-answers/clinical-depression/faq-20057770
- What is depression? – Lifeskills South Florida, accessed on August 9, 2025, https://lifeskillssouthflorida.com/mental-health-blog/what-is-depression/
- How to Stop Being Depressed – Harley Therapy™ Blog, accessed on August 9, 2025, https://www.harleytherapy.co.uk/counselling/how-to-stop-being-depressed.htm
- Major depressive disorder – Wikipedia, accessed on August 9, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_depressive_disorder
- Depression – National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), accessed on August 9, 2025, https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/depression
- Criteria for Major Depressive Disorder Diagnosis – Baptist Health, accessed on August 9, 2025, https://www.baptisthealth.com/blog/family-health/criteria-for-major-depressive-disorder-diagnosis
- Documenting and Coding Major Depressive Disorders – Health Alliance, accessed on August 9, 2025, https://www.healthalliance.org/documents/24810
- Moderate Depression: Symptoms, Treatment, and Coping – Verywell Mind, accessed on August 9, 2025, https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-moderate-depression-5072794
- How Toxic Positivity Increases My Symptoms of Depression – Outside the Norm Counseling, accessed on August 9, 2025, https://outsidethenormcounseling.com/how-toxic-positivity-increases-my-symptoms-of-depression/
- “Just be positive “ : r/bipolar – Reddit, accessed on August 9, 2025, https://www.reddit.com/r/bipolar/comments/yug1gi/just_be_positive/
- How to Explain Depression to Someone Who Doesn’t Understand? | Rego Park Counseling, accessed on August 9, 2025, https://regoparkcounseling.com/how-to-explain-depression-to-someone-who-doesnt-understand/
- Bipolar disorder – Symptoms and causes – Mayo Clinic, accessed on August 9, 2025, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/bipolar-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355955
- Treatment-resistant depression – Mayo Clinic, accessed on August 9, 2025, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/in-depth/treatment-resistant-depression/art-20044324
- What Is Depression? – American Psychiatric Association, accessed on August 9, 2025, https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/depression/what-is-depression
- Our Stories | Depression Looks Like Me | Johnson & Johnson, accessed on August 9, 2025, https://www.depressionlookslikeme.com/our-stories/
- You’re Not Alone | Articles and Stories About Depression, accessed on August 9, 2025, https://headsupguys.org/articles/
