Depression isn’t just feeling down It’s a real illness with real causes Depression can be triggered by stressful life events like divorce or a death in the family or it can appear suddenly for no apparent reason some people think you can just will yourself out of a depression that’s not true many doctors believe that one thing that may cause depression is an imbalance of serotonin a chemical in your body if this happens you may have trouble sleeping feel unusually sad or irritable find it hard to concentrate lose your appetite lack energy or have trouble feeling pleasure these are some of the symtoms that can point to depression-especially if they last for more than a couple of weeks and if normal everyday life Feels like too much to handle to help fight depression doctor now prescribe anti-depressant drugs they are not ‘happy pills’ they won’t turn you into a different person some people do experience mild side effects like upset stomach headaches difficulty sleeping drowsiness anxiety and nervousness these tend to go away within a few weeks of starting treatment and usually aren’t serious enough to make most people stop taking them