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  • Signs of Depression You Shouldn’t Ignore

    Signs of Depression You Shouldn’t Ignore

    Life isn’t easy: everyone has moments when they feel low, lonely or sad. That’s to be expected, and a bit of the blues is perfectly normal for someone to go through. However, when loneliness and sadness become so profound that you feel as though they’re impacting your ability to lead a fulfilling life, it’s time to seek help. Here are some of the biggest signs of depression you shouldn’t ignore.

    Sings of Depression You Shouldn’t Ignore

    Constant Fatigue

    If you feel like you’re always fighting an uphill battle to gain your energy and face the day, you might be experiencing a symptom of depression. Constant fatigue, sleeping all the time and shirking activities just to rest more could be a symptom of depression. Oversleeping all the time is bad for you for a number of reasons, both physically and socially.

    For one thing, if you’re always oversleeping, you’re encouraging your metabolism to be slower, your skin to be greasier and your organs to be less efficient. You’re also likely to abuse caffeine more in order to feel awake enough to face the day. Likewise, you’re more likely to sleep in too late and miss class or work if you’re always snoozing your alarms and sleeping longer than you should.

    Memory Loss

    An often overlooked and extremely distressing side effect of depression is memory loss. Many people who feel otherwise happy and normal might find themselves suffering from being “scatterbrained” and finding it hard to focus. Their main depression symptoms tend to be fatigue and a habit of forgetting information, both critical and frivolous.

    This memory loss is very distressing for people who don’t know why it’s occurring. Things like the time you need to be at class or at work, where you put your keys or phone, and even dates to meet friends or loved ones can slip the mind. Less commonly, memory loss from depression could include entire spans of time, though this kind of memory loss could be a symptom of other serious neurological disorders.

    Loss of Interest

    A pervasive and telltale sign of depression is a lack of interest in hobbies and activities you once found engaging. This loss of interest can cause you to stop doing things you once enjoyed, like playing sports or video games, painting or singing, and even reduce your interest in sex and relationships. The emotional state of people suffering this depression symptom can be described as malaise, resignation and helplessness.

    Loss of interest in the things once found interesting is a very telltale sign of depression as it is so unlikely to occur for other reasons. While people might occasionally just lose interest in an individual hobby or person, if they suddenly have no interest in any of their former passions, it’s a red flag that they should speak to their doctor about their symptoms.

    Negative Relationship to Food

    A huge indication of a burgeoning problem with depression is a negative relationship with food. This can include thinking about food too often, overeating, eating because you feel bored and indulging in food to ignore your emotions. Another way this can manifest is the opposite effect: some people suffering from depression are so disinterested in food that they simply don’t eat.

    If you find most of your time is spent thinking about food, or you’re not eating enough and don’t seem to feel hungry or have any desire for food, you could be suffering from depression symptoms. No matter what your symptoms are manifesting as, it’s vital that you speak to a medical professional about how you’re feeling. Whether it’s a doctor or a therapist, you can reach out for the resources available to you to help.


  • Seven Signs that You May be Depressed

    Seven Signs that You May be Depressed

    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.


  • Depression Symptoms to Watch Out For

    Depression Symptoms to Watch Out For

    Clinical depression is a serious issue that plagues millions of people all around the world. It’s not like just feeling a little blue or somewhat sad. Clinical depression can sap one’s desire to do anything, to get out of bed, to eat, to go to work.

    If you or someone you know is showing signs of serious depression, reach out. There’s no reason to suffer: you can get help.

    Depression Symptoms

    Fatigue

    One of the most pervasive parts of depression is the all-encompassing tiredness. Fatigue, as it is clinically called, is a serious problem for depression sufferers. Simple tasks, like folding laundry, making food or making the bed seem insurmountable. Lying in bed, scrolling through social media or watching Netflix becomes the default state.

    Despair

    A feeling of inescapable despair, that nothing matters and that all will be washed away is a huge aspect of depression. All-or-nothing reasoning, hopelessness and a desire to avoid reality tend to go hand-in-hand with this kind of despair. Pessimism tends to flow out from this type of reasoning into everyday scenarios.

    Irritability

    People who are suffering with depression are often stricken by bouts of irascible irritability that baffle even themselves. Often, sufferers find themselves snapping at people who offer help or critique their bleak worldview. This irritability often leads to the depressed person becoming more isolated, thus further fueling their depression.

    Loneliness

    Feelings of isolation and loneliness, whether accurate or not, are also common among depressed persons. These emotions can be brought on by legitimate loneliness, or completely unrelated to reality. In fact, many people with depression who are actually surrounded by friends can feel totally alone due to their disorder.

    Apathy

    Feelings of apathy can also be related to depression. A lack of desire to engage with the things one once found fascinating can signal depression. Often, this extends to many different aspects of one’s life, including entertainment, hobbies, loved ones and even lovers.

    Depression vs. General Sadness

    Life can be sad. There will be times when you become melancholy, sad, maybe even inconsolable over the events in your life. However, this isn’t inherently depression. Everyone gets sad from time to time, but time normally takes some of that sting away.

    If you’re finding that you can’t bounce back from the things giving you the blues, and that you’re feeling ever more isolated and pessimistic, you may be suffering from depression. Don’t hesitate to speak to your doctor and attempt to connect with a therapist.

    Remember, depression is a real disease and a serious threat. You should treat it as the medical issue that it is, and make sure you see a doctor. It’s better to reach out and face this problem head-on with friends and doctors on your side.