Not all depression is created equal. We use the word in so many ways, it's no wonder people get confused about what it is and how to deal with it.

Before you can work out ways of coping, you need to understand what you're suffering from.

Circumstantial depression

If you're depressed because something bad has happened in your life, that's normal. You're allowed to feel down if a loved one has passed on, or your partner is cheating on you, or your child is ill! In fact, covering up your sadness with drugs may be the worst thing you can do, because we humans need time to work through our sad feelings if we're ever going to deal with them and recover.

That's not to say you have to be stuck in misery. The important thing is to take care of you. Make sure you get enough sleep (see tips below if that's a problem), eat sensibly and try to give yourself a treat occasionally, even if you don't feel like it. Don't be afraid to ask for support!

Grieving takes a long time - at least two years to get over the loss of a loved one, for instance. However, if you're still constantly in tears and unable to function normally after the first month or so, something is wrong - you may be heading for more serious depression and should seek professional help.

But what if you're depressed and you can't see any valid reason for it? It is possible you have clinical depression (see below) - but before you jump to that conclusion, take a careful look at yourself and your life.

Could the culprit be something that you're not admitting to? It can be hard to face up to the causes of your depression - but the good thing is, if you can find a cause there's a chance you can find a solution, so try not to shy away from the truth.

Perhaps your marriage is unhappy and you don't want to admit it to yourself - because then the only way to stop being depressed is to leave, and that's too frightening. Or you hate your job, but can't face the challenge of retraining for something new.

Hard though it may be, if you're in a bad situation which is making you depressed, the only thing that's going to make you feel better is to remove yourself from the situation.

Another possibility is that the cause is a traumatic incident in your past that you've buried and never dealt with. You may need professional help to exorcise those demons.

If you really can't find a cause, there are a couple of other possibilities.

Strange but true - if the only time you're depressed is in winter, you may have Seasonal Affective Disorder.  Yes, it's a real illness!  Sufferers get depressed when they don't get enough daylight. 

The treatment is easy if you live in a sunny climate - get outside and take advantage of natural light as often as you can.  Work near a window.  For those who live in harsher climates, 30 minutes a day in front of a very bright "daylight" fluorescent light can make a big difference.

You have clinical depression when the situation or event that caused your depression is well and truly over, but you still can't move on. As if they didn't feel bad enough already, many sufferers feel a sense of failure or guilt that they can't "snap out of it". That's completely unjustified - no one chooses to be clinically depressed and it's not something you can beat with willpower alone. It's an illness, not a mindset, and it requires proper treatment.

At one time, it was thought clinical depression was caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, because taking a drug that increased serotonin levels helped. But that was a big leap of logic - it's like saying when I have a headache, aspirin helps, so my headache was caused by a lack of aspirin!

Despite extensive trials, there's no evidence that clinical depression is caused by a lack of serotonin. You'll still see "chemical imbalance" blamed on older websites, but the more reputable ones have stopped using the term. Yes, drugs that increase serotonin will make you feel better, but it may only be a temporary fix if the real reason for your depression isn't addressed. As more and more people use anti-depressants, it's becoming clear that people who use drugs often have poorer outcomes than people who don't, for that very reason.

Regular, daily exercise will help improve your mood and is well worth trying. If you don't want to take anti-depressants, St John's Wort has been proven to be just as effective for some people - but it must be used with caution if you're on other medication (see below)

One of the simplest "free treatments" for depression is to smile. Smiling releases a small amount of "feelgood" chemicals in the brain.

If smiling is the last thing you feel like doing, put a pencil or pen sideways between your teeth, which will bend your mouth into something like a smile. Your brain can't tell the difference, and will start releasing feelgood chemicals.

If you're depressed, it's very common to have trouble sleeping. If you can't sleep, you feel tired - and if you're tired, you're going to feel listless, which makes you feel even more "down". So taking steps to improve your sleep should be high on your list:

1. Keep your bedroom just for sleeping and sex. Remove the TV and the computer to another room.

2. Have a hot milky drink just before bedtime. The tryptophan in the milk helps you sleep. If you're lactose intolerant, it's worth seeking out lactose-free milk - soy doesn't have the same effect.

3. Don't do anything mentally stimulating for at least an hour before bedtime. That includes anything on your computer - surfing, chatting, working, etc.

4. Don't eat anything in the last hour before bedtime.

It's worth trying a few variations in your routine to see what helps you sleep. Some people find that gentle exercise last thing at night, like yoga, helps them sleep - whereas others report the exact opposite. A warm shower or hot bath just before bed also helps some people. Reading a book may send you off, or wake you up - it's an individual thing.

A treatment that is not just free, but can actually SAVE you money, is to give up alcohol. Drowning our sorrows is tempting, but alcohol is a depressant - so in the long run, it will make you feel even worse. It also has a rebound effect: it may make you feel pleasantly drowsy as you fall into bed, but when it wears off you'll wake up. If you find a nice whisky soothes you off to sleep, but then find yourself wide awake at four in the morning - that's the rebound.