Often, people aren’t even aware that they’re living with depression. The symptoms sneak up on them, slowly piling up and pulling their quality of life down. If you’re worried that you or someone you know is depressed, you might not know what to look for. There’s a difference between feeling a little low and feeling depressed. Today we’re going over some of the biggest symptoms of depression to help you identify the issue and seek treatment.
Symptoms of Depression
What is Depression
There are a number of mental disorders that fall under the “depression” classification. While there are distinctions between these various forms of depression, they share a few symptoms in common. Notably, if you feel as though you may be suffering from clinical depression, you should seek help from your doctor. Depression can result in suicidal thoughts and has numerous health detriments associated with it.
If one or more of these symptoms applies to you, and constantly interferes with your daily life, then you need to seek professional help. There are a number of treatments that can help you tackle depression, including antidepressant medication, diet and exercise, and therapy with a licensed psychiatrist.
Suicidal Thoughts or Attempts
Intrusive thoughts regarding ending one’s own life, and attempts to do so, are a sure indicator of major depression. Contact the suicide hotline if you’re struggling with suicidal thoughts, as they are very serious and need to be addressed as such. Remember: suicide is permanent, your problems aren’t. There are plenty of ways you can address your life’s issues without ending it.
Insomnia, or Sleeping too Much
Sleep disturbances are common among people suffering with depression. Sometimes this can manifest as insomnia, as the patient finds themselves unable to get to sleep and stay asleep throughout the night. Other times, the patient is oversleeping, often sleeping through alarms or going to bed hours earlier than they normally would.
Concentration, Memory
Disturbances in your memory and your concentration can also be common with depression. If you find it hard to remember details, or you’re often forgetting your commitments, it could be related to depression. This is often referred to as “brain fog” and can feel like sleepiness and fatigue in some cases. This could, in turn, lead to the oversleeping some patients experience from depression.
Fatigue
Chronic fatigue, lethargy and “laziness” are other common symptoms of depression. People with serious depression might find themselves unable to motivate and have difficulty completing simple tasks. For these people, the thought of even cooking a meal or folding laundry can seem insurmountable. Much like concentration issues, this can contribute to the hazy, “brain fog” feeling many complain of with depression.
Appetite Disturbance
Much like sleep disturbances, appetite disturbances can occur in some depression patients. This could manifest as a complete lack of interest in food, often accompanied by complaints of nothing tasting good or sounding appetizing. In other cases, this could result in binge-eating that resembles stress-eating, and often is unhealthy in nature.
Irritability
Often, depression can be detected in others by the onset of unusual and heightened irritability. If someone is normally easygoing and relaxed but becomes chronically irritable and hard to talk to, it could be a result of the onset of major depression. Likewise, if you find yourself constantly annoyed by even small things, it could be due to depression.
Lack of Interest
A pervasive and telltale sign of depression is the sudden lack of interest in things you once found pleasing. Your hobbies become chores to you that you dread. Activities once pleasurable, like exercise or sex, become unbearable in your daily life. This isn’t normal, and you should seek help if you begin feeling this way.