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Some people call it the 'blues' and some people call it the 'pits' and some call it 'feeling down in the dumps'. But whatever you may call it, being depressed is a horrible feeling. The most common types of depression are:

Major Depression, which is characterized by sadness, sleep disorders, and a decreased or absent appetite. Often when a person is in a state of major depression, the person feels a total lack of motivation and drive and the sufferer does not want to participate in life. Some people are completely disabled by depression, and some even consider suicide.

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

Manic Depression is also called Bipolar Disorder. This type of depression is less common than the first two. It involves cycles 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, the onset tends to be gradual.

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

Some of the symptoms of depression include:

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

Sources of Depression:

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

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

If you suffer from depression, you will want to consult with your physician. He may prescribe drugs for you. But you should keep in mind that every drug has side effects.

Wouldn't it be phenomenal if you could regulate and eliminate your depression just by having certain thoughts? I know that this sounds too good to be true, but very often, many types of depression are caused by having negative thoughts.

You can see this for yourself firsthand, right now. It's really quite basic and simple. Just use your imagination to think about something that you find very troubling or sad. Go ahead, think about it right now! Then return to this article.

So, what happened? If you truly focused and visualized the sad situation, you began to feel sad and a bit depressed. The longer you permit yourself to stay in that thought pattern, the sadder you will feel. As you keep having sad thoughts and keep feeling sadder, you lead yourself into a gradually deepening depression.

The good news is that if you focus on a positive thought, then you will displace that sadness and depression and have happy feelings instead.

Please pay careful attention now, because here are the keys to ending your depression: Our most pervasive thoughts spring forth from the unconscious mind. These are the thoughts that we find ourselves repeatedly thinking about throughout the day.

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

But here is the 'Light at the end of the tunnel': Since hypnosis can be used to change our unconscious thoughts, NLP and self hypnosis stress management CDs can quickly alter the way that you feel, think, and behave. The beauty here is that the same techniques that work for stress management also work equally well for eliminating depression!

Now I'm going to tell you exactly why and how it's going to happen. Hypnosis is a natural state of mind. Specifically, it's the Alpha state of consciousness. We pass through the Alpha state as we are falling asleep at night. And we pass through it again as we awaken in the morning. 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 your mind from negative thoughts, and promote positive thoughts. It's a tool that allows you to bypass the consciousness to create positive expectations, which will in turn create positive feelings. You can overcome depression by using hypnotherapy.