I'm a habitual Self Help reader. Whenever I have a crisis, big or small, I turn to gurus who have written books. I love Gary Zukav for his words about aligning your intention with your choices as a way of achieving authentic living. and I love Deepak Chopra for giving us the substance of mysterious things like death and the secrets of life. »more»

Most of us like to think that a mutually agreed upon divorce or simple job lay off is not shameful. But something in our culture and deep within our own psyche begs to differ. I found my own divorce to feel quite shameful. What I say now is that any divorce, no matter how mutally desired, traumatizes the people involved and feels like a failure on some level. »more»

Roky Erickson, who was a rock star from the 13th Floor Elevators in the late 60's, had a midlife crisis just like a lot of people. If you don't rememeber his band, their hit song was "You're Gonna Miss Me." He eventually got into doing drugs while on the road and ended up with a metal disorder, Schitzophrenia. He went crazy and had to be put into a mental institution. »more»

If you've felt sad or down for a while, the problem might not be the stresses of middle age or even a midlife crisis. You might be suffering from an under-diagnosed mental health disorder known as dysthymia.

Dysthymia is a form of depression. While the lows aren't as bad as major depression, they are ongoing -- one symptom is that the dark or sad mood persist for at least two years. »more»

An increasing body of evidence links midlife depression to poor brain performance, and even increased risk of Alzheimer's, later in life.

Shirley Wang of the Wall Street Journal reports: »more»

Poor childhood sibling relationships are linked to major depression in adulthood, according to a new study.

The reason for the newfound relationship is unknown. »more»

Hundreds of thousands of families will soon see their youngest child off to college, and that means an outbreak of despondent mothers and fathers suffering from empty nest syndrome.

Or does it? »more»

Empty nests. Menopause. Midlife crisis. Those are some of the reasons midlife is supposed to cause depression in women.

But as with so much information about midlife, that is at best only part of the story. »more»

LifeTwo has long argued that what many people call their "midlife crisis" is really their normal reaction to a crisis that could occur at any time, but happened to them in midlife. Their "crisis" could be their emotional response to divorce, death in the family, job loss, serious illness, or other trauma. We've held that one such type of "midlife crisis" is actually depression.

Now a new study shows just how blurry the line is between feeling down after negative life events and clinical depression. »more»

Do you feel like you are in a battle for your life?

A lot of us do. We feel that unease and restlessness and want to make it go away. The harder we try to ignore it, distract it or drug it, the more miserable we feel. »more»