About DepressionResource.

Why we built DepressionResource.

Depression doesn't show up the same way for everyone. For some people it's a crushing physical heaviness. For others it's a high functioning competence layered over a constant inner emptiness. For some it arrives with grief. For others it arrives with a baby. For others it arrives with the dark months of late fall and lifts in April. The category called depression contains a lot of variation, and most online content about it picks one version and pretends that's the whole picture.

We wanted something different. Plain language. Practical guidance that respects the variation in how depression actually shows up. Maps that lay the cluster out as one picture. Editorial standards that mean every clinical entry has a board certified psychiatrist's name on it as the reviewer. That's DepressionResource.

The premise is that understanding what's happening is part of treatment. People who can name what they're going through, who know the basic biology and the basic evidence, who can ask their own questions when they're in front of a clinician, tend to do better in care. So we built the site for that.

What DepressionResource is.

DepressionResource is the practical layer for depression. Each entry is written for someone trying to understand what's happening to them, not for a clinician on rounds. The site has five content collections.

Types is the strongest section. It covers the patterns depression actually takes: high functioning depression, depression with anxiety, depression and grief, postpartum depression, seasonal depression, treatment resistant depression, bipolar depression, and others. People recognize the patterns more easily than they recognize the formal diagnostic categories, which is why we built Types as a primary navigation path. Symptoms covers the experiences inside depression (anhedonia, brain fog, fatigue, hopelessness, guilt, low motivation, suicidal thoughts, others). Topics covers the questions about depression that come up around the edges (what causes it, when to see a doctor, how to help someone). Treatment covers what works (SSRIs, SNRIs, behavioral activation, CBT, augmentation strategies, TMS, ketamine, ECT). Glossary covers the vocabulary you'll run into across the site.

Above the entries, the Depression Maps are the signature creative work. Nine of them. The flagship is The Depression Map, which shows how thoughts, feelings, body, and behavior connect as one cluster. The other eight cover specific patterns: Anhedonia, High Functioning, Postpartum, Depression with Anxiety, Suicidal Thoughts, Treatment Resistant, Seasonal, and Bipolar Depression. The "I feel…" page is the front door for people who don't know which entry they're looking for yet.

What DepressionResource isn't.

DepressionResource isn't a clinic. It isn't a substitute for evaluation with a clinician who knows your situation. It's not a place to get a diagnosis or a prescription. The site is education, not treatment.

If you want the clinical encyclopedia view (diagnostic criteria, DSM-5-TR references, full evidence ratings), that's Shrinkopedia. If you want medication specifics (which SSRI, what dose, what side effects, what to expect in the first month), that's PsychiatryRx. If you want telepsychiatry care, that's shrinkMD. Each site is independent and has its own scope.

DepressionResource also isn't a community platform. We don't take user submissions, user comments, or personal stories. The editorial review depends on the publishing process staying with the editorial team and the medical reviewer.

How DepressionResource gets built.

Every entry goes through the same process. We pick topics based on three things: how common the pattern is, how often people are searching for the information, and where the practical content gaps are. A draft gets researched against current evidence. DSM-5-TR for diagnostic frames. Recent meta analyses and systematic reviews for treatment evidence. The major depression trials (STAR*D and others). Guidance from the NIH and NIMH. Current treatment guidelines from the relevant specialty societies (APA, ACOG for postpartum, AACAP for adolescent depression, AAFP for primary care, others where applicable).

Once the draft is in our entry template, it goes to Shariq Refai for medical review. He's in active clinical practice as a board certified psychiatrist, and he reviews every clinical entry before it gets published. If something's wrong, unclear, or claims more certainty than the evidence supports, the entry goes back for revision. He reads it again before it's published.

After publication, entries get reviewed again on a schedule. Higher impact entries more often. When something changes in the field (a new FDA approval like esketamine or zuranolone, an updated guideline from a major society, a new black box warning), affected entries move up the queue.

The full editorial process lives at Editorial Standards. The evidence framework lives at Evidence Methodology. Corrections get logged at Corrections. How we use AI tools (and how we don't) lives at AI Use.

Who builds DepressionResource.

DepressionResource is built by an editorial team and medically reviewed by Shariq Refai, MD, MBA. Every clinical entry on the site has his name on it as the reviewer.

Shariq is a board certified psychiatrist with fifteen years of clinical practice. He founded shrinkMD, an independent multistate telepsychiatry practice. He wrote three books on mental health: Your Mind Is Full of Sh*t, The Workbook, and The Havoc in Your Head. His clinical focus is anxiety, depression, OCD, trauma, treatment resistant cases, and the integration of medication and psychotherapy. NPI 1467680660. ORCID 0009-0009-1090-4373. Board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Full bio at the Medical Review Board page.

The editorial team includes researchers who draft entries before medical review and copy editors who finalize the prose. Their names and roles are on the Editorial Team page. We believe a publication ought to tell you who reviewed it, which is why every entry shows the reviewer name, credentials, and review date.

Independence.

DepressionResource is published by shrinkMD Publishing. We don't run ads. We don't sell user data. We don't take referral or affiliate revenue of any kind. There are no sponsored entries. There's no native advertising in the editorial content. No industry sponsorship.

When an entry mentions shrinkMD as a care option, it's because shrinkMD is one valid telepsychiatry option for depression. The entry will also name other major care options and present them on the same terms. If the site were recommending any specific provider for reasons that weren't editorial, we'd have to disclose that under our Disclosures policy. We don't, so we don't.

Where DepressionResource sits in the Shrink Network.

DepressionResource is the practical depression layer of a connected network of independent mental health properties. Each property covers a different layer of mental health from a different angle.

For the clinical encyclopedia view. Shrinkopedia. For diagnostic criteria, DSM-5-TR references, evidence ratings, and the formal clinical view.

For the rest of the practical layer. AnxietyResource covers anxiety. DepressionResource covers depression. There's a lot of overlap (depression and anxiety co occur in about half of cases), and we cross link the entries where that overlap matters.

For medication specifics, evidence summaries, pattern work, and care. PsychiatryRx for medications (the SSRIs, SNRIs, atypicals, augmentation strategies, esketamine, and others). AnxietyResearch for evidence summaries. shrinQ for the rumination and self criticism loops that often run inside depression. Unstuck for skill building. shrinkMD for telepsychiatry care, including treatment resistant cases that need next line management.

For perspective. shariqrefai.com hosts Shariq's long form essays on depression and recovery.

Each site is independent. Each has its own editorial leadership and its own scope. What ties them together is the cross network infrastructure: the Network Clusters (hosted on Shrinkopedia), the Continue Learning blocks at the bottom of every entry, the Network Compass at the top of every entry, and the Start Here page on each site. The point of all that is so wherever you arrive in the network, the path to the next thing you need is short.

Standards we hold ourselves to.

The full standards are at Editorial Standards. In short:

• Every clinical entry is medically reviewed by a board certified psychiatrist (Shariq Refai, MD, MBA) before publication. The reviewer's name, credentials, and review date are on every entry.
• Every entry names its sources. Peer reviewed primary research, meta analyses and systematic reviews, and clinical practice guidelines from specialty societies get the most weight. News articles, opinion pieces, and patient experience content don't get used as primary sources.
• When the science is unsettled, the entry says so. We tag evidence strength on four levels. Strong (multiple high quality trials with replicated findings). Moderate (consistent findings from smaller or shorter trials). Limited (small trials or only observational data). Emerging (early stage research that's been hypothesized but not yet replicated).
• When we make a mistake, we fix it publicly. The Corrections page logs every substantive correction with the date, the location, and what changed. We don't log minor copy edits. We do log clinical content changes.
• We use AI tools to assist with research organization, drafting, and editing. We don't use AI to publish without human review. The AI Use page documents how AI is and isn't used.

How to use DepressionResource.

There are several ways into the site, depending on what brought you here.

• If you're not sure where to start, the "I feel…" Start Here page routes you based on the feeling word that fits closest. Numb. Exhausted. Hopeless. Foggy. Joyless. Guilty. Unmotivated. Isolated. Faking it. Angry. Suicidal. Not sure.
• If you want to figure out which pattern of depression fits closest, the Types section is usually the right next stop. High functioning depression, depression with anxiety, depression and grief, postpartum, seasonal, treatment resistant, and others.
• If you want to see how depression actually fits together as a cluster, the Depression Maps are the signature creative work of the site. Nine visual cluster pages, starting with The Depression Map.
• If you want a specific experience or treatment, the Symptoms and Treatment lists are alphabetical and searchable.
• If you want a quick screening, the Depression test (PHQ-9) takes about two minutes.
• If you need professional care, the Get Help section routes you to state by state options plus crisis support plus the shrinkMD telepsychiatry option.

At the bottom of every entry, the Knowledge Path shows a five step walk through related entries. The Continue Learning Across The Network block shows which other sites in the network cover the same topic. The Network Compass at the top of every entry tells you at a glance where the entry sits in the network.

If you're in crisis.

DepressionResource isn't a crisis service.

If you're in immediate danger to yourself or someone else, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.

If you're having thoughts of suicide, or you're in significant mental health distress, call or text 988 in the United States. That's the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. It's free, confidential, and available 24/7. Trained counselors are on the other end of the line. Most people who have suicidal thoughts during a depressive episode don't act on them, but the silence around the thoughts is what creates risk. Naming them to someone (a clinician, a crisis line, a trusted person) is the highest leverage move available.

If you're outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has a directory of crisis services by country at iasp.info.

Contact.

For editorial questions, factual corrections, and press inquiries: support@depressionresource.org.

If you've found a factual error in an entry, email us with the entry URL and the specific text that's wrong. We process substantive corrections within seven days and log them on the Corrections page.

We can't respond to personal clinical questions by email, and we can't give individual medical advice through the contact form. If you need clinical care, the "I feel…" Start Here page routes you to options including shrinkMD plus broader telepsychiatry and in person care resources by state.