Virtually everyone has some experience with depression, however, the term “depression” has so many different meanings that when two people talk about it, it's likely they are referring to different things, and this can lead to confusion and invalidation.
As a means of trying to address this problem, I have created a simple schema, based on my work with patients and my own personal experiences, so that people can understand each other better when talking about depression.
My experiences have helped me to identify four different types of depression: situational, biological, psychological, and existential.
Read more on psychologytoday.com