Depression

Depression is a serious medical illness that involves the brain. It's more than just a feeling of being "down in the dumps" or "blue" for a few days. If you are one of the more than 20 million people in the United States who have depression, the feelings do not go away. They persist and interfere with your everyday life.

Clinical Depression: Diagnosis, Causes & Treatment

Depression is a clinical condition that, contrary to popular opinion, cannot simply be overcome with time and it needs to be treated.

Causes of Depression

Treatment of Depression

Ghrelin and Depression

Depression Diagnosis

The Science Behind the Winter Blues: Understanding Seasonal Affective Disorder

Intrusive Thoughts and Depression

Food Insecurity and Depression

Depression and Sleep Length

Genes and Depression

Link Between Chronic Illness and Depression

5 Facts You May Not Know About Depression

See more featured articles »

Supporting Children with Mental Health Disorders

How Can I Tell if My Child is Depressed?

Can Depression and Anxiety Occur Together?

Symptoms of Depression

Prisoner Depression and Low Mood

How is Depression in Children Diagnosed?

Antidepressants and Weight Changes

Treatment Options for Children with Depression

Contributing Factors to Post-Adoption Depression

How Does Your Diet Affect Depression?

Depression in children

Situational Depression: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments

Latest Depression News and Research

Long-term singles experience sharper decline in life satisfaction and well-being

More and more young adults abstain from entering committed romantic relationships, and this may be affecting their well-being.

14 Jan 2026

Cannabidiol could become a therapeutic tool for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

Cannabidiol (CBD) could become a therapeutic tool to address some of the most frequent and disabling consequences of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), a condition caused by alcohol exposure during pregnancy.

14 Jan 2026

Implanted vagus nerve stimulation device offers lasting relief for severe depression

About 20% of U.S. adults experience major depression in their lifetime. For most people, symptoms improve within a few treatment attempts, but up to one-third of patients have treatment-resistant depression, for which standard antidepressant medication or psychotherapy isn't enough.

13 Jan 2026

Fruit fly study identifies genes regulating dopamine and sleep

Dopamine in the brain influences movement, learning, motivation and sleep. In humans, problems with dopamine are linked to conditions like Parkinson's disease, depression and sleep disorders.

13 Jan 2026

Breastfeeding is linked to lower depression and anxiety years later

A decade-long study links breastfeeding to lower anxiety and depression in mothers, suggesting long-term mental health benefits beyond the postnatal period.

13 Jan 2026

Brain immune cells drive persistent negative emotions after repeated binge drinking

New research has identified that neuroinflammation driven by microglia (immune cells in the brain) is a primary underlying driver of prolonged negative feelings caused by repeated, sustained binge drinking (binge exposure).

12 Jan 2026

Social, family and health factors contribute to bullying among adolescents

Bullying in the United States remains a serious public health issue with consequences that extend far beyond the school grounds.

12 Jan 2026

UOC project aims to develop a digital solution to evaluate depression apps for patients

Diagnoses of depression, one of the most common mental disorders, increased by nearly 50% between 1990 and 2017, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO). Currently, depression affects around 5% of the world's population.

12 Jan 2026

Long COVID symptom clusters that could reshape patient care

A systematic review of Long COVID identifies symptom clusters, highlighting fatigue and proposing a management framework for personalized treatment strategies.

12 Jan 2026

Chronic back pain predicts poor sleep in older men

Researchers investigate the prevalence of back pain and sleep issues in men 65 years of age and older.

12 Jan 2026

Study uncovers a neural brake that limits motivation during unpleasant situations

Most of us know the feeling: maybe it is making a difficult phone call, starting a report you fear will be criticized, or preparing a presentation that's stressful just to think about.

9 Jan 2026

Breastfeeding linked to lower long-term depression and anxiety in mothers

Breastfeeding may lower mothers' later life risks of depression and anxiety for up to 10 years after pregnancy, suggest the findings of an observational study, BMJ Open' page">published in the open access journal BMJ Open.

9 Jan 2026

Federal rental assistance during COVID-19 pandemic improved mental health

Federal rental assistance distributed during the COVID-19 pandemic did far more than help people stay in their homes. It also improved their mental health.

9 Jan 2026

Breastfeeding linked to reduced maternal depression and anxiety up to ten years

Breastfeeding may lower mothers' later life risks of depression and anxiety for up to 10 years after pregnancy, suggest the findings of a small observational study, published in the open access journal BMJ Open.

8 Jan 2026

UC Davis team creates new class of serotonin-effecting drugs

UC Davis researchers have developed a new method that uses light to transform amino acids - the building blocks of proteins - into molecules that are similar in structure to psychedelics and mimic their interaction with the brain.

8 Jan 2026

Physical activity shows comparable benefits to therapy for treating depression

Exercise may reduce symptoms of depression to a similar extent as psychological therapy, according to an updated Cochrane review. When compared with antidepressant medication, exercise also showed a similar effect, but the evidence was of low certainty.

7 Jan 2026

The gut is not just digestive and new evidence shows it actively controls brain function

This comprehensive review synthesizes a decade of human and animal research to explain how the gut and brain communicate through hormonal, neural, immune, and microbial pathways. It highlights how disruptions in these pathways contribute to gastrointestinal, metabolic, and neurological disorders, and how modern therapies are beginning to exploit gut–brain signaling for clinical benefit.

6 Jan 2026

Catching up on weekend sleep may protect adolescents against depression symptoms

Sleeping in on the weekend to catch up on sleep lost during the week may be good for adolescents' mental health, according to new research by the University of Oregon and the State University of New York Upstate Medical University.

6 Jan 2026

Chronic back pain linked to future sleep problems in older men

About half of older men suffer from sleep problems, back pain or both, according to Soomi Lee, associate professor of human development and family studies at Penn State.

6 Jan 2026

Elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio linked to depression and suicide risk

An elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is significantly associated with increased risk of depressive disorder (DD) and may also correlate with suicide risk among individuals with DD, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published in the November issue of Harvard Review of Psychiatry, part of the Lippincott portfolio from Wolters Kluwer.

6 Jan 2026