I agree that depression is an umbrella term, and saying that it's not a real illness is ignorant. It's like saying PTSD isn't an illness. I periodically experi

I agree that depression is an umbrella term, and saying that it's not a real illness is ignorant. It's like saying PTSD isn't an illness. I periodically experience bouts of (what I call) depression, which I'd summarize as an intense anger that's oriented towards one's self. Paradoxically, it's very intense and at the same time it shuts me down. An analogy would be shoveling sand and cement into a drive train. I won't get into the typical "how to fix it" part of this discourse, but I think it can be useful for people who have trouble sympathizing with people who experience depressive episodes to know what are some of the things that one experiences. I think it's also good for one experiencing these things to be able to reflect on what's happening, to, at the very least, get some distance. So the episodes, in my case, have very clear "clinical" symptoms. Blood flow to the limbs is reduced severely, I'll often be on the verge of shivering with cold, similarly to what happens when you have a fever; motoric ability is severely reduced: you'll be tripping on things, dropping things; reaction time is severely reduced: for example, you're likely to not catch something that's thrown at you; appetite loss; glaring morbidity; difficulty sleeping; a strong, general feeling of discomfort in the body, a bit like recovering from a physical shock, like an automotive accident. For me, the thing lasts for 2 to 5 days, and happens every few weeks, rarely more than twice a month.