unipolar depression

depression /de·pres·sion/ (de-presh´un)

1. a hollow or depressed area; downward or inward displacement.

2. a lowering or decrease of functional activity.

3. a mental state of altered mood characterized by feelings of sadness, despair, and discouragement.depres´sive

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agitated depression  major depressive disorder accompanied by more or less constant activity.

anaclitic depression  impairment of an infant's physical, social, and intellectual development resulting from absence of mothering.

congenital chondrosternal depression  congenital deformity with a deep, funnel-shaped depression in the anterior chest wall.

endogenous depression  a type caused by an intrinsic biological or somatic process rather than an environmental influence, in contrast to a reactive depression.

major depression  major depressive disorder.

neurotic depression  one that is not a psychotic depression (q.v.); used sometimes broadly to indicate any depression without psychotic features and sometimes more narrowly to denote only milder forms of depression.

pacchionian depressions  small pits on the internal cranium on either side of the groove for the superior sagittal sinus, occupied by the arachnoid granulations.

psychotic depression  strictly, major depressive disorder with psychotic features, such as hallucinations, delusions, mutism, or stupor; often used more broadly to cover all severe depressions causing gross impairment of social or occupational functioning.

reactive depression , situational depression a usually transient depression that is precipitated by a stressful life event or other environmental factor; cf. endogenous d.

unipolar depression  that unaccompanied by episodes of mania or hypomania, as in major depressive disorder or dysthymic disorder; the term is sometimes used to denote the former specifically.

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unipolar depression,

a major disorder of mood that is characterized by symptoms of depression only. See also depression, major depressive disorder.

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Patient discussion about unipolar depression.

Q. Bipolar depression And Unipolar depression Is bipolar depression different from unipolar depression?

A. Yes. These are two different disorders that are distinct in many ways: bipolar appears earlier (20's compared to middle aged), males and females are affected equally (depression is more prevalent among women), family tendency (more pronounced in bipolar) etc. The course is also different: bipolar have manic episodes, while depression includes only depressive episodes.

The treatment is also quite different (lithium and stabilizers for bipolar, SSRI for depression)

You may read more here:
www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/bipolardisorder.html