The days when nothing happens

Depression is described as sadness, and because of that many people do not recognise it: they are not sad, they are flat. The things that used to interest them are still there and no longer call. There is no sharp pain to point at, and the absence of an obvious reason becomes another reason not to mention it.

The most reliable signal

It is not one day's mood: it is duration. Weeks in which getting up costs more than it should, in which everything is postponed, in which messages are answered three days later. And above all: when the things that used to work — sleeping, walking, seeing someone — stop working.

There is no threshold to cross before you are entitled to ask. If you are reading this page trying to work out whether it is serious enough, that question is already information.