Treating clinical depression is a job for professionals.  Amateurs shouldn't attempt to treat clinical depression with self-help books or positive thinking.  Clinical depression is an illness that can result in suicide and other types of self-destructive behavior.  It requires therapy by a physician specialized in its treatment.  Powerful medications are available that can break the vicious cycle of destructive thoughts accompanying clinical depression.

People who are clinically depressed experience the same loss of command and control, and the same twisted thoughts and distorted emotions found in other mood disorders, but their severity is exponentially greater.  In addition, patients with clinical depression can be difficult to treat, and there are pitfalls associated with their treatment.  In particular, patients sometimes put on their bravest face just before they commit suicide.  They appear to be improving, but what has really happened is they have finally made up their mind to commit suicide, and their apparent improvement simply means they know that in a few hours or days their pain will be over, because they will be dead.

Medications are a two-edged sword.  Certain antidepressants are associated with suicidal ideation in some young patients.  Suddenly stopping antidepressant therapy may also increase the risk of suicide in severely depressed individuals.

If you are clinically depressed and have thoughts about ending your life, you need urgent professional help.  It's ok to read self-help books, and literature on cognitive therapy, but they are not enough.  You need an experienced professional who can guide you out of the Land of Depression so you can start enjoying your life again.

Excerpt from :

Zero Tolerance To Negative Thinking : Good-by Depression - Hello Positive Mind

David J Abbott M.D.