It seems that more and more people these days are being identified as "depressed", and are often treated for depression. However, there are several other illnesses and health problems that can mimic the symptoms of depression, which means some more serious problems may go unnoticed. It's important that you keep track of your symptoms so that your doctor can see what little variance in indications you may have that point towards something other than depression. Here are 8 illnesses/syndromes that are often misdiagnosed as depression:

1. Bi-Polar - Someone who suffers from bi-polar (aka manic depression) will have varying moods. They can be happy and energetic one minute, then crash into feelings of despair and anguish. It's easy to differentiate between bi-polar and depression due to the periods of "highs" a person goes through.

2. Dysphoria - Dysphoria is related to bi-polar, but what sets it apart is the level at which the symptoms display themselves. While a bi-polar person may have highs and lows, someone with dysphoria tends to become restricted to anxiety, rage, and general unhappiness.

3. ADD/ADHD - More prevalent in females, ADD/ADHD can show itself in many of the same symptoms as depression. While males tend to display the more common indicators of ADD/ADHD, females react differently, often with bouts of anxiety, unhappiness, and manic behaviours.

4. Thyroid - It can take a few years to properly diagnose a thyroid condition. Often, the blood tests used to determine the illness are inconclusive for a period of time until the condition progresses enough to be detected in the blood. During that waiting period, a person may show all the signs of depression, only to find the symptoms disappear after being treated for hypothyroid or hyperthyroid.

5. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - One of the main symptoms of depression is sleeping a lot or feeling generally tired. It's also a main symptom of chronic fatigue syndrome. Often disregarded as a "state of mind" problem, someone can suffer from CFS for years, even while being treated for depression, before a proper diagnosis is made. The problem with CFS is that the symptoms are not the key to determining the condition. To diagnose CFS, you need to rule out all other possibilities.

6. Alzheimer's - Depression comes with memory loss, dementia, fatigue, and unhappiness … all symptoms of the more serious "Alzheimer's disease". The good news is that Alzheimer's is becoming one of the go-to conditions whenever a person over the age of 60 complains about these symptoms. It's rare that a person under 60 will develop Alzheimer's, but prominent symptoms usually become noticeable within five years.

7. Meningo-myeloencephalitis - A rare virus of the brain and spinal column, meningo-myeloencephalitis often shows itself at first with severe headaches, which can be a symptom of depression. Due to the rarity of the disease, it's one that is often overlooked when doctors are trying to make a diagnosis. The good news is that very few people have contracted this, and even fewer have died due to misdiagnosis.

8. Ovarian Tumour - Depression can cause you to create pain where there would normally be no pain. Due to this, some doctors are quick to disregard complaints of pain, opting instead to treat depression in hopes that antidepressants will convince your brain that there is no pain. This is another rare instance, but the severity of the problem makes is a serious one.

The depression diagnosis seems to be used a little too fervently these days, and it's crucial that you don't settle for that as an illness. You know your body, and you know when something is wrong. Get a second opinion - even a third opinion, if you must - but don't settle for a diagnosis until you feel confident that your condition has been properly identified.