Is there such a thing as retractable depression? One must first study the root meaning of retractable. Retractable depression has a connotation that the sufferer is able to ?pull? out of in and go back in to the depression state, at free will. Nothing could be further from the truth. Depression sufferers do not generally have the ability to ?snap out of it? or they would gladly do so. You don't very often hear of someone who is suffering from depression that are happy about the diagnosis or suspected diagnosis. Depression is a state that promotes negative feelings about the sufferer himself, a feeling of feeling useless and unwanted, even to the extreme of feeling inferior to everyone else.

Retractable depression does not mean that the people who are afflicted with the disorder can take themselves out and put themselves in. In a medical sense, retractable depression often means that the depression comes and goes in quick spells. The average depression lasts anywhere from two weeks to 18 months.

Retractable depression is considerably less in duration of time and perhaps, occurs more frequently. Retractable depression can rise and fall and can be accompanied by severe anxiety attacks. It is often thought that depression brings on the anxiety attacks and it increases the severity of the disorder when this is present.

Although retractable depression sounds like a controlled disorder, it is anything but controllable. It can appear suddenly and just as suddenly be gone. Retractable depression is highly unpredictable and in a sense, makes the situation worse for the sufferer.

It tends to have a pattern of having the individual in a mode of fight or flight always because of the unpredictability of retractable depression. Feeling unsure about whether today will be the day another attack or bout of depression comes about. On the flip side of retractable depression, it generally ?lifts? unexpectedly and unpredictably also.

Those that suffer from retractable depression can at least be a little relieved that it usually doesn't last for twenty months. They are more able to come up out of the depression than a habitual sufferer of depression or depression caused by medical issues.

There is no official treatment or diagnosis of retractable depression however, new studies are always being presented and conducted throughout the medical community. One day soon, depression will be a disorder of the past once the experts find out how to effectively control and treat retractable depression.