The most common types of depression are:

Major Depression, which is characterized by sadness, Insomnia, and a depressed appetite. Often when an individual is in a state of major depression, there is a complete lack of drive and motivation and the sufferer lacks the desire to participate in life. Some people are completely disabled by depression, and some may even contemplate suicide.

Dysthymia: This is a less severe type of long term depression that typically does not totally disable a person. But it prevents the person from feeling motivated and functioning at optimum levels. Sometimes people who are struggling with Dysthymia are also afflicted with Major Depression, and when this occurs it is called double depression.

Manic Depression is also known as Bipolar Disorder. This type of depression is less common than the first two. It involves phases of the manic state, alternated with the depressed state. This is often a long term recurring disorder. Sometimes the mood swings occur suddenly. But generally speaking, onset tends to be gradual.

There are numerous variations of depression; the types described here are only the most common.

Some symptoms of depression include:

Sadness; anxiety; pessimism; insomnia and sleep disorders; feelings of worthlessness; guilt; restlessness; pain; fatigue; weight loss; headaches; and thoughts of suicide.

Sources of Depression:

As previously stated, there are several types of depression: Major Depression; Manic Depression; and Dysthymia being three of the more common forms.

Many types of depression run in families. Living in a stressful environment can lead to depression. A traumatic experience such as relationship problems, financial trouble, or a serious loss can also precipitate a depression.

Women are twice as likely to suffer from depression as men are, but scientists do not know why.

If you suffer from depression, you will want to seek the advice of your physician. He may prescribe medication for you. But you should keep in mind that every drug has side effects.

Wouldn't it be phenomenal if you could control and eliminate your depression just by thinking certain thoughts? I know that this sounds too good to be true, but quite frequently, various types of depression are simply caused by thinking negative thoughts.

Don't believe me? Then try it out! It's really quite basic and simple. Just imagine something that you feel is very troubling or sad. Go ahead, think about it right now! Then return to this article.

What happened? If you truly focused and visualized the sad situation, you began to feel sad and a little depressed. The longer you allow yourself to remain in that thought pattern, the sadder you will feel. As you stay in sad thoughts and keep feeling sadder, you lead yourself into a gradually intensifying depression.

The good news is that if you think about a happy memory, then you will displace that depression and sadness and have happy feelings instead.

Please pay careful attention now, because here are the keys to eliminating your depression: Our most persistent thoughts emerge from the unconscious mind. These are the thoughts that we find ourselves automatically thinking about during the day.

If the persistent thoughts that keep recurring in your mind are about your problems or sad experiences, then you raise your levels of anxiety, stress, and depression.

But here is the 'Light at the end of the tunnel': Since hypnosis is a tool that we can use to alter our unconscious thoughts, NLP and self hypnosis stress management programs will rapidly alter the way that you think, feel, and behave. The good thing is that the same exact techniques that work for stress management also work as well for eliminating depression!

Listen to me now, because I will tell you exactly how and why it's going to happen. Hypnosis is a natural state of mind. Actually, it's the Alpha state of consciousness. We pass through the Alpha state as we fall asleep at night. And we pass through it again as we wake up from sleeping. We also enter the Alpha state when we are imagining and daydreaming.

The unconscious mind is the seat of our emotions, and it's like a computer; the input controls the output! Hypnotherapy is a wonderful tool for reaching directly into the unconscious mind and reprogramming it to automatically divert you from negative thought patterns, and promote positive thinking. It's a tool that allows you to bypass the consciousness to create positive expectations, which will in turn create positive feelings. You can beat your depression through using hypnosis therapy.