Provides an overview of depression, discussing who it affects, indications of depression, treatment options, and how to offer support for a friend or family member suffering from depression.

Includes index.

Understanding depression: What is depression? -- Are you at risk? -- The biology of depression -- Recognizing and diagnosing depression -- Types of depression -- Treating depression: A treatment overview -- Medications and how they work -- Counseling and psychotherapy -- Electroconvulsive and other biomedical therapies -- Self-help strategies -- Special groups and concerns: Women and depression -- Older adults and depression -- Childhood and teenage depression -- Combined disorders -- Living with a depressed person: Suicide and coping with suicide -- The role of family and friends -- Facing and overcoming depression: a personal story.