What is depression

• Depression is a mood disorder that affects the emotional state (i.e.: the current emotional mood is distorted or inappropriate to thecircumstances).
• Depression is characterised by low mood and loss of pleasure or interest in activities for extended periods of time (WHO, 2023).
• Depression is the most predominant mental health condition worldwide (Vos et al., 2013). Globally, an estimated 5% of adults have diagnosable depression (WHO, 2023),
• The experience of depression is very common and the World Health Organization has described depression as the commonest of all health problems. At any one time, over 300 million people around the world are experiencing mood that is so low that they would meet formal criteria for 'diagnosis of depression' (BPS, 2020