Being unhappy isn't the same as being depressed. Depression is a term often used loosely to describe how we feel after a bad week at work or when we get dumped. But major depressive disorder – a type of depression – is much more complicated. The specific symptoms and signs determine whether it's depression or just a case of the Mondays.
Determining if persistent, unshakable feelings are a result of depression can start the process of eradicating them from your life. Click through this slideshow, and test yourself to see if it's time to see a professional.

Changed Feelings

Major depression is a mood disorder that affects the way you feel about life in general. Having a hopeless or helpless outlook on your life is the most commonly associated symptom of depression. Other feelings may be worthlessness, self-hate or inappropriate guilt. Common, reoccurring thoughts of depression are vocalized as, "It's all my fault," or "What's the point?"

Depression can take the pleasure or enjoyment out of things you love. A loss of interest or withdrawal from activities that you once looked forward to — sports, hobbies, or going out with friends — is yet another telltale sign of major depression. Another symptom of major depression is a decreased sex drive and even impotence.