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Some people call it the 'pits' and some people call it the 'blues' and some call it 'feeling down in the dumps'. But whatever you may call it, depression is a terrible feeling that you do not need to live with. The most common types of depression are:

Major Depression, which is characterized by a sad mood, Insomnia and sleep disorders, and the lack of desire for food. Often when an individual is in a state of major depression, the person feels a total lack of motivation and drive and the sufferer does not want to do anything in life. Some people are completely disabled by depression, and some individuals even consider suicide.

Dysthymia: This is a less severe type of long term depression that generally does not totally disable a person. But it prevents the person from feeling motivated and functioning at optimum levels. Sometimes people who are suffering with Dysthymia also suffer from Major Depression, and when this occurs it is called double-depression.

Manic Depression is also known as Bipolar Disorder. This form of depression is not as common as 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 more often they tend to be gradual.

There are a number of variations of depression; the above are only the three most common.

Some of the symptoms of depression include:

Anxiety; pessimism; sadness; insomnia and sleep disorders; feelings of worthlessness; guilt; weight loss; fatigue; restlessness; headaches; pain; and thoughts of suicide.

Sources of Depression:

Many types of depression are linked to genetics. Living in a stressful environment can lead to depression. A trauma such as problems in a relationship, a serious loss, or financial problems can also lead to depression.

Women are twice as likely to become depressed as men are, but we do not yet know why.

If you are suffering from depression, you will want to consult with your physician. Your healthcare provider may prescribe drugs for you. But keep in mind that every medication causes side effects.

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

Don't believe me? Then try it out! It's really quite simple and basic. Just imagine 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 really focused and visualized the sad situation, you began to feel sad and a bit depressed. The longer you permit yourself to remain in that pattern of thought, the sadder you'll feel. As you keep having sad thoughts and continue feeling sadder, you lead yourself into a gradually deepening depression.

The good news is that if you think about a positive thought, then you'll supplant that sadness and depression and have happy feelings instead.

Listen closely now, because here are the keys to eliminating your depression: Our persistent thoughts spring forth from the unconscious. These are the thoughts that we find ourselves involuntarily thinking about throughout the day.

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

Now 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 programs can quickly change the way that you feel, think, and behave. The best part is that the exact same techniques that work for stress management also work just as well for eliminating depression!

Now I am going to tell you exactly why and how it's going to happen. Hypnosis is a natural state of mind. Actually, it's the Alpha state of consciousness. We pass through the Alpha state as we fall asleep at night. And we pass through it again as we wake up from sleeping. We also enter the Alpha state when we are imagining and daydreaming.

The unconscious is the seat of our emotions, and it's like a computer; the input controls the output! Hypnosis therapy is an excellent tool for reaching directly into the unconscious and reprogramming it to automatically divert your mind from negative thoughts, and towards positive thinking. It's a tool that allows you to bypass the consciousness to create positive expectations, which will then generate positive feelings. You can beat your depression through using hypnosis therapy.