What is acute depression?

Depression can manifest acutely (with very intense and sudden depressive episodes) or become chronic and continuous, with sudden periods of worsening. Acute depression is also called a major depressive episode, clinical depression, and unipolar depression.

While depressive episodes can occur only once in a lifetime, people typically experience multiple episodes of depression. During these episodes, symptoms occur for much of the day, nearly every day, and for at least two weeks, and are characterized by intense feelings of sadness, loss of interest in people and activities, trouble sleeping, persistent thoughts of self-harm, fatigue, mental confusion, apathy, or anger.