Signs and Symptoms of Depression

Signs and symptoms of depression vary from person to person. In addition, the symptoms also depend on the severity of the depression. Depression not only affects mood but also thinking, behaviour, and physical well-being as well. Read on to know the common signs and symptoms of depression.

• Feeling low or feeling helpless and hopeless, as if nothing will ever improve and moreover feeling that there’s nothing that can be done to improve your situation.
• Loss of interest in things that you enjoyed in the past such as loss of interest in your hobbies, pastimes, social activities, or sex. You don’t enjoy anything and have lost the ability to feel joy and pleasure.
• Change in appetite or weight change. You may not feel hungry at all or all of a sudden there may be a significant increase in your appetite. Considerable weight loss or weight gain can occur (a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month).
• Insomnia (finding difficult to sleep or waking up in the early hours of the morning), or feeling excessively sleepy (also known as hypersomnia).
• Feeling irritable or restless (agitated or on edge) constantly. Your tolerance level seems to be very low and everything and everyone seems to irritate or get on your nerves.
• Feeling tired and exhausted most of the time even after adequate rest and sleep. You seem to be constantly physically drained and even small tasks exhaust you or take a long time to complete.
• Feeling useless, worthless or guilty. You think negatively about yourself and criticise yourself for perceived faults and mistakes.
• Finding it difficult to concentrate and trouble focusing, making decisions, or remembering things.
• Constant aches and pain (such as headaches, back pain, aching muscles, and stomach pain) which don’t go away.

All these symptoms can be part of life’s normal lows but if you have these symptoms constantly which are getting worse then probably you are depressed. If you find the symptoms overwhelming and disabling and they are affecting your life; then it's time to seek help. Remember that depression is totally curable and the earlier you seek treatment the easier it is to treat.

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