Is Depression Normal?

Imagine opening your laptop and Googling, "Do good people get cancer?" or asking a friend if you're "broken" because you have diabetes.

Scenarios like these may sound absurd when it comes to physical ailments, but they aren't so farfetched with mental illness. For many people struggling with depression, the diagnosis can feel like something that only happens to other people, and it can be hard to resist wondering if depression is "normal" or is something "normal people" experience.

So, is depression normal?

Depression means that the brain is not regulating mood as it ordinarily should, so in a sense it is not entirely normal. Being sad and having mood fluctuations from time to time is a normal part of life, but depression is different. It's an illness that, like most other illnesses, requires treatment.

Depression is a complicated condition that doesn't have a single specific cause. Instead, researchers believe it's caused by the confluence and interaction of many complex factors. Genetics, past experiences, stress levels, medications, and even the weather in your environment can trigger depression or leave you more vulnerable to developing it.

While these factors can predispose a person to becoming depressed, depression can affect anyone, regardless of their age, race, socioeconomic status, or gender. Some harmful attitudes toward depression do still exist, but they are fortunately fading away. Depression is no longer a taboo subject, and experiencing it does not mean that that you're a bad person, that you're weak, or that you did anything wrong.

Depression is one of the most common mental health conditions, affecting more than 264 million people worldwide. Every year, an estimated 6.7 percent of adults experience depression, which means that 1 in 15 people around you may be living with depression. In fact, the lifetime risk for depression is 16.6 percent, which equates to 1 in every 6 people experiencing depression at some point in their life.

Depression shouldn't be left untreated because it can intensify and last indefinitely. Depression can also cause persistent physical symptoms like headaches, fatigue, nausea, and chronic pain. So how should you treat it?

First-line treatments for depression typically involve antidepressants and talk therapy. While these can be effective treatments for many people, they don't work well—or at all—for some individuals. Antidepressants, for instance, do not provide symptom relief for about one-third (33 percent) of people who use them. If you've tried two or more antidepressants with little to no effect, you may have treatment-resistant depression. If this is the case, or if you can't tolerate the side effects of antidepressants, you may want to consider TMS therapy.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) therapy is effective for about 62.5 percent of people who do not find sufficient symptom relief from taking antidepressants. It uses gentle magnetic pulses to stimulate nerves in specific areas of the brain responsible for regulating mood and emotion, helping the brain perform these functions. TMS therapy is completely non-invasive, and a typical course of treatment lasts 6 to 9 weeks.

With guidance from your health care provider, you can explore different options for treating depression until you find the right one for you. If you're interested in learning more about TMS, you can browse more articles and resources on it.

Remember, you are not alone. Depression is common, and many people find effective treatment for it. Everyone's path to finding treatment for depression is different, but if you continue searching, you will likely find a treatment that works for you.