When you suffer from depression you suffer from a gloomy mood, loss of pleasure and you can experience concentration problems. You can suffer from sleeping and eating problems and you can feel hopeless.
If you have depression, you actually want to get rid of it as soon as possible.
To speak of depression, the symptoms associated with depression must last for at least 2 weeks. In about half of the people, a depressive period lasts less than three months.
Read also: How to recognize depression
Unfortunately, depression can also be chronic. In someone who is chronically depressed, this gloomy period can sometimes last for years. This is the case in about 15 to 20 percent of people who suffer from depression.
Read also: What is depression?
Sometimes a person has a depression only once in his or her life, but often depressive periods return. The chance of recurrence is 50 to 80 percent and increases the more a person has gone through several depressive episodes.
In the video below, psychologist Merel Hovestad explains how long depression can last.
{{video poster=http://www.sante.nl/app/uploads/2019/02/depression.jpg src=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKkfEh-SU14}}
Text:Jolien van der Kamp-Gielleit | Image:Shutterstock
