A mental health disorder characterised by persistently depressed mood or loss of interest in activities, causing significant impairment in daily life.

Let’s face it: most people don’t have a good conception of what depression is. They think of it as just being “really sad.” They believe that thinking positively or talking a walk outside is all it takes for a depressed person to feel better. They don’t understand that clinical depression is a diagnosable mental illness that requires proper treatment from licensed professionals. It’s not just something that you can “get over” or “push through.”It’s so difficult to describe depression to someone who’s never been there, because it’s not sadness. I know sadness. Sadness is to cry and to feel. But it’s that cold absence of feeling — that really hollowed-out feeling.”— J.K. Rowling