For a long time, depression was a manageable group of illnesses; today, it is considered a common ailment and encompasses a wide range of depressive-affective disorders. Due to the high demand for care, various outpatient services have been developed, as well as depression-specialized units initiated by the authors in many clinics for the disorder-specific treatment of severely depressed individuals. The book illustrates, against the backdrop of the authors' decades of focused experience with depressed individuals, the diversity of this condition and its therapies beyond ICD stereotypes, grounded in professional and scientific knowledge, while also reflecting personal perspectives within societal and contemporary contexts.