Depression Signs And Symptoms | How To Know If You Are Depressed

Before depression signs, let us understand the term depression,

What Is Depression:

Depression is a common and devitalizing mind disorder. You can identify depression signs in a person by observing him/her.

It interferes with your ability to think, feel, study, feel good, work, eat, sleep, and enjoy. Depression changes your perception about world and people living in it.

It changes how you feel, think and act in daily activities. The feelings of self-loathing, hopelessness, loneliness, emptiness, sadness and helplessness can fill up your mind.

I have struggled with depression and still am a little bit. I have faced it and faced it deeply. Hence, I know this negative shit very well. Depression may happen at any age, but often it begins in adulthood or even at your teens.

Depression signs and symptoms vary from person to person, so do the treatments. Mild depression may be a normal temporary reaction to life events or a side effect of medical treatment or some drugs and may not require any professional treatment.

But be aware that in case of a chronic depression, you may necessarily require medical treatments and consultation of an expert. By knowing the depression signs in time, it becomes easy for you to fight it.

How Do You Know If You Are Depressed | Depression Signs And Symptoms:

Depression has many characteristics by which you can identify it in an individual. Below are some depression signs that a person is likely to experience. If you are experiencing some of the following signs then you might have depression:

Trouble Focusing And Loss Of Concentration:

Your concentration level becomes low, you may have trouble focusing your mind on anything. You forget your tasks very often and you have trouble remembering things.

And you may notice your memory has become weak. Additionally, you find difficulties taking decisions. Regular meditation can help you gain back your concentration and awareness. You can choose heartfulness approach or traditional mindfulness approach for meditation.

You May Lose Your Interest In Your Daily Life Activities:

You don’t take interest in your daily activities and have lost your hobbies. And You don’t enjoy social events or any social activities and think why the hell people organize social events. You’ve lost your ability to feel good.

Worst of all,

You may not even enjoy the things that used to seem very interesting to you before. Crazy, right?

Feelings Of Helpless And Hopeless (Negative Thoughts): 

You may get the feeling that nothing is happening good with you, it will not get better and no-one is concerned about you. And you face emptiness and sadness.

All these negative thoughts fill up your mind and find them hard to fight or ignore. You may have to deal with feeling ashamed frequently.

Change In Appetite And Weight Can Be A Depression Sign:

One of the most common signs of depression is a change in how much you eat.

You may suffer a significant amount of weight loss or weight gain. Loss of appetite can be a warning or sign of depression. On the other hand, some people can’t stop eating if they are depressed.

You May Feel Sleeplessness Or You Sleep A Lot:

Either you have trouble sleeping at night or you feel so tired and sleepy most of the times. And you do not want to leave the bed in the morning.

You May Become Angry And Irritated:

You get irritated with people in every little thing. And your temper is short. You get angry at people even for their silly mistakes.

Loss Of Energy – A Depression Sign and Symptom: 

You feel tired, drained, fatigued, exhausted and laziness. You feel tired even you are doing a small task.

Self-Loathing And Low Self Esteem Are Depression Signs:

You may constantly judge yourself and think you are not worthy enough. You may feel worthlessness or guilt and your self-esteem may lower. Studies have shown that depression works to decrease self-esteem. You don’t feel good about yourself. You may feel vulnerable.

Body Problems: 

You may face headaches, back pain, stomach-ache. Digestive problems like constipation or nausea. You must know that depression is not totally a mental disorder, it can also negatively affect your body and could make you vulnerable to the health problems such as cancer and high mortality rates. To support this point here is an article.

Are There Any Different Types of Depression?

Yes there are, most common ones are:

Major Depression:

Major depression is a mood disorder. It occurs when feelings of frustration, disappointment, sadness, loss, anger become part of your life over a long period of time.

It is also known as unipolar or major depressive disorder, characterized by a persistent feeling of sadness and mood off or a lack of interest in outside activities and activities that you used to enjoy before.

Symptoms of this type of depression include low energy, trouble sleeping, changes in appetite or weight, overeating, or loss in appetite and feeling worthless or guilty. It can usually be treated with psychotherapy and medication.

Persistent Depressive Disorder:

This type of depression refers to low mood that has lasted for at least two years but may not reach the intensity of major depression.

If you have persistent depressive disorder, you may be known for having a gloomy personality, you keep complaining about things and incapable of having good time. You may find it hard to be joyful even on happy occasions.

People with this type of depression type are able to perform daily tasks but feel low or joyless most of the time.

Some depressive symptoms, such as change in appetite and sleep, loss of energy, low self-esteem, feeling empty, helpless and hopeless.

Bipolar Disorder:

Bipolar disorder is a chronic mental health condition with strong changes in mood and energy levels.

This disorder is characterized by extreme mood swings. These can range from extreme highs (mania) to extreme lows (depression).

People suffering this go from very happy and active to very sad and down and inactive and so on.

There are several different types of bipolar disorders.

Bipolar I disorder is the condition in which a person experiences a manic episode for at least one week and may or may not also experience depression signs.

Bipolar II disorder is the presence of a current or past hypomanic episode, which is considered to be slightly less severe type of mania.

People having bipolar disorder feels two types of episodes:

Depressive Episodes(The Lows):

• Weak concentration and focus
• Irritability,anxiety, anger, worry, fatigue and restlessness
• Crying spells and emptiness
• Major changes in appetite and sleeping
• Loss of energy
• Aches and pains
• Feelings of self-loathing, guilt, worthlessness
• Inability to feel joy even in interesting activities
• Early morning awakening
• Thoughts of death or suicide

Mania or Hypomania Episodes (The Highs):

• Increment in physical and mental activities and high energy
• Feeling very powerful or important and overjoyed
• More irritability, aggressive behavior
• Decreased need for sleep(Sleeplessness)
• Feeling active, less tiredness and fatigue
• Impatient ,impulsiveness, poor judgment, distraction
• Inappropriate social behavior
• Attention is easily drawn to unimportant things
• Rapid talking speed or volume
• Full of new ideas
• Increased sex drive
• Substance abuse

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD):

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) comes and goes with the seasons. This type of depression starts to hit in the late fall and early winter when days get shorter and goes away during the spring and summer.

Some people do feel episodes of depression that start in the spring or summer, but that is a lot less common. Symptoms of this disorder may include:

• Sadness that lasts most of the day, nearly every day
• Feeling of helplessness. hopeless, worthless or guilty
• Being irritated easily
• Loss of interest or pleasure in activities you once enjoyed
• Having low energy
• Feeling lazy, sluggish or agitated
• Trouble sleeping or oversleeping
• Carbohydrate cravings and weight gain
• Frequent thoughts of death or suicide

Sharing a problem with someone else can give you support and an insight into your own depression. Researches has also shown that sharing and talking to people can help you feel relieved and reduce depression signs. Adopt a healthy lifestyle.

Have courage to talk and share or write about it. There is no reason to be ashamed about it. Almost everyone gets depressed at certain part of their lives.

Also check out: Am I lonely or depressed?