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.

5 Facts You May Not Know About Depression

Prisoner Depression and Low Mood

Can Depression and Anxiety Occur Together?

Antidepressants and Weight Changes

Symptoms of Depression

How is Depression in Children Diagnosed?

Depression in children

The Science Behind the Winter Blues: Understanding Seasonal Affective Disorder

Link Between Chronic Illness and Depression

Causes of Depression

Supporting Children with Mental Health Disorders

See more featured articles »

Treatment Options for Children with Depression

Treatment of Depression

How Can I Tell if My Child is Depressed?

Depression and Sleep Length

Contributing Factors to Post-Adoption Depression

Depression Diagnosis

Situational Depression: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments

Ghrelin and Depression

Genes and Depression

Intrusive Thoughts and Depression

Food Insecurity and Depression

How Does Your Diet Affect Depression?

Latest Depression News and Research

Wildfire smoke in late pregnancy may raise autism risk

Prenatal exposure to wildfire smoke in late pregnancy may modestly raise autism risk in children, emphasizing the importance of safeguarding pregnant women.

23 Jan 2026

New medical LLM detects depression in women via WhatsApp audio analysis

A new medical large language model (LLM) achieved over 91 percent accuracy in identifying female participants diagnosed with major depressive disorder after analyzing a short WhatsApp audio recording where participants described their week, according to a study published January 21, 2026 in the open-access journal PLOS Mental Health by Victor H. O. Otani, from Santa Casa de São Paulo School of Medical Sciences and Infinity Doctors Inc., Brazil, and colleagues.

22 Jan 2026

Pregnancy-related stroke linked to long-term risk of cardiovascular events

Having an ischemic stroke during pregnancy or three months after pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events like heart attack or second stroke, heart disease and depression later in life.

21 Jan 2026

Pandemic linked to lasting drops in diagnosis rates for major conditions

There has been a lasting and disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on diagnosis rates for conditions including depression, asthma and osteoporosis.

21 Jan 2026

The neuroscience of motivation-driven memory retention

Researchers from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine), and Duke University have proposed a neuroscience framework explaining how different types of motivation fundamentally reshape what and how the brain remembers.

21 Jan 2026

Arthritis significantly restricts employment for millions of American adults

According to new research from the University of Delaware, nearly 40% of American adults ages 18 to 64 with arthritis - almost 10 million people - say the medical condition is limiting their ability to work.

21 Jan 2026

Study examines cannabis use among street-identified Black Americans facing gun violence

Yasser Payne grew up in Harlem, New York, where violence was all around him. A number of his family members and friends were shot. He himself was subject to gun violence and witnessed fights.

20 Jan 2026

Perceived injustice intensifies trauma symptoms after October 7th attack

A new study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem examined how thought-patterns associated with unfairness, known as perceived injustice, shape people's psychological responses to trauma.

19 Jan 2026

Central reference database launched to categorize and coordinate mental health biomarker research

Psychiatrists and neuroscientists are taking a major step toward objective mental health diagnosis by launching a central reference database for the classification and communication of mental health biomarker research.

19 Jan 2026

Study finds growing long-term antipsychotic prescribing in elderly dementia patients

When agitated dementia patients wander or shout through the night, families and caregivers understandably feel the need to treat this frightening and potentially dangerous behavior. Antipsychotic medications are often resorted to with such patients, contributing to increases in antipsychotic treatment rates among older people.

16 Jan 2026

FDA-cleared ADHD device not effective in reducing symptoms

A large multicenter clinical trial led by King's College London with 150 children and adolescents has shown that a device cleared by the US FDA to treat ADHD is not effective in reducing symptoms.

16 Jan 2026

Vagus nerve stimulation shows lasting benefit in treatment-resistant depression

Findings reveal that vagus nerve stimulation leads to lasting benefits in treatment-resistant depression, improving function and quality of life over two years.

16 Jan 2026

What makes depression apps safe, effective, and trustworthy?

The study identifies 28 key criteria for assessing depression apps, emphasizing safety and clinical validity to enhance digital mental health interventions.

15 Jan 2026

New chemistry revives neurokinin-1 receptor as depression treatment target

For decades, scientists have investigated the neurokinin-1 receptor (NK1R) as a potential target for treating major depressive disorder.

14 Jan 2026

Dietary intervention eases celiac symptoms in children but not quality of life

The Gluten3S research group launched a dietary intervention with children who had recently been diagnosed with celiac disease.

14 Jan 2026

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