It is perfectly normal to feel a little blue or down from time to time. However, feeling down or blue for long periods of time, lasting more than two weeks, is a serious problem. When this happens, full-blown clinical depression has set in, and treatment is needed.

Depression is marked by feeling down, fatigue, unexplained aches and pains, excessive sleeping or insomnia, feeling overwhelmed, feelings of hopelessness, a marked change in appetite, loss of energy, headaches, a diminished interest in things previously enjoyed, difficulty focusing or concentrating, and more.

Depression can be very mild and very severe. Depression can lead to suicide — even in a person who feels that suicide is wrong. Some people believe that depression occurs only when there is a "visible" reason for it, but this is not the case. Depression can even occur due to a chemical imbalance in the brain. The causes of depression are numerous.

Again, feeling blue or down from time to time is normal. It is when those feelings progress or are prolonged that a real problem exists. This type of depression does require treatment. Too often people think that they will "get over it," that they don't need treatment or that treatment will not benefit them. Some people don't seek treatment because they are embarrassed or ashamed. They may also fear medication that is used in the treatment of depression.

While medication is used to treat depression, there are other ways in which it is treated as well. Counseling, without medication, has helped millions of people. Sometimes, for milder cases of clinical depression, simply resolving a problem or talking to a trusted friend helps.

If you or someone you know is experiencing depression, you should definitely seek help. Help should be sought when depression lasts more than two weeks, when it is accompanied by uncontrollable crying, or when it is interfering in your day-to-day life, preventing you from participating in your usual activities.

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Bipolar disorder is a difficult illness to manage and to treat. Many who have it may ask themselves, "Why me? What caused all this?" There are great disagreements as to the causes of bipolar disorder. They all tend to go back to the old nature/nurture controversy. In other words, does a thing happen to a person because of who he or she is, or because of the environment he or she grew up in?

The nature side of bipolar disorder causes has always been seen in family histories. This, however, can be misleading. Families often pass behaviors on from one generation to the next, regardless of whether family members are natural relatives or adopted ones.

The scientific concept of correlation without causation may account for shared histories of bipolar disorder in biologically unrelated siblings. This concept is easy to grasp. For example, a man could state that all summer, every time he got a sunburn he ate fish. So, did the sunburn cause the man to eat fish? No, but the act of fishing both caused the man's skin to burn and allowed him to catch a fish, which he then ate. In a similar way, bipolar disorder can occur in families without anything in one family member's bipolar disorder causing the bipolar disorder of another.

Also, for whatever reason, people with bipolar disorder are often drawn to each other. In this case it is unclear whether the families formed come together because of their shared genetically similar predisposition towards bipolar disorder, or whether some members of the families are genetically more prone to bipolar disorder but the illness of some other members of the family becomes exaggerated more than it would in another environment.

Research into the genetic causes of bipolar disorder is often done using twin studies. It is assumed that twins will have environments that are as close as is possible. Identical twins are used to show the effects of genetics, since they will share the same genetic materials. Fraternal twins are used as a control group. While these twins share nearly identical environments with their twins, the fraternal twins have less genetic material in common.

It has been shown through these twin studies, and other studies where identical twins are compared to adopted siblings, that there does seem to be a genetic basis for bipolar disorder. Only one percent of the population has bipolar disorder. Fraternal twins, who share some genetic information, are 20 percent more likely to have the disease if one has it. The percentage for identical twins is even higher, at around 60 to 80 percent chance of one having it if the other does.

Environmental causes of bipolar disorder are more difficult to assess. Bipolar disorder has been proven to have a chemical basis in the brain, but the chemical reactions can be caused by any number of factors. A history of losses early in life can be a contributing factor, as can any major source of stress. Physical illnesses such as cancer and others can lead to a depressive state, which is then often followed by mania.

Neither genetics nor environment can fully explain the causes of bipolar disorder. Research is constantly being undertaken in both areas. In the meantime, the nature/nurture controversy is just beginning to heat up.

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Science proved long ago that energy creates more energy. This is why taking a walk when you start to feel drowsy will perk you up and helps you get through the day without a nap. While this is a major benefit of exercise, there are, of course, other benefits.

Naturally, you are thinking that exercise is important for weight control, muscle tone, and even bone strength. But did you know that exercise can also aid in the treatment of depression?

When we exercise, endorphins are released in the brain. Those endorphins make us feel happy. Note that exercise is not in any way a cure for depression — the depression still needs to be treated by a doctor, and possibly with the help of a therapist, but exercise can actually lessen, and in some cases eliminate the symptoms associated with depression.

For relief of depression symptoms, doctors recommend regular exercise for approximately 30 minutes, three to five times a week. You don't have to go to the gym for a complete workout. Again, just taking a 30-minute walk will do wonders. The important thing is to get the blood flowing through your body.

Naturally, when one is depressed, they really don't feel like exercising, and 30 minutes of exercise may be asking a bit much — at first. However, even 10 minutes of exercise will improve your mood, although you won't feel any long-term effects from such a small amount of exercise.

Despite this, if you can't muster 30 minutes of exercise right out of the gate, start with smaller amounts of exercise time and slowly work your way up to the full 30 minutes.

Not only will exercise improve depression symptoms by releasing endorphins, it will also help you to sleep better at night, which also helps with the treatment of depression.

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