Seasonal sadness or depression?
Feeling the Monday blues or feeling down after a tiring day at work isn’t depression but it is quite normal to feel sad if you experience a setback. However, Major depressive disorder is a kind of depression that is much more complicated and its symptoms vary from person to person. The feeling of despair and hopelessness when prolonged over long period of time and starts interfering with your routine, it is a serious health condition. Signs of depression are often evident as they affect how you think, feel, and function throughout the day. Our thoughts, appetite, sleeping patterns, working abilities, daily routines, and hobbies all are affected by depression and often are life-threatening.
What is depression?
Severe depression is often described by patients as a feeling of hopelessness or having a feeling of impending doom. You lose interest in the things you used to enjoy, your focus is disrupted, you sleep at odd times, or don’t sleep at all, your social life as well as personal relationships are affected. A person with depression is always feeling down and getting through the day only can be overwhelming for them. But there is always something you can do to help yourself and feel better.
Basic signs of Depression
- Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, and hopelessness
- Fatigue and body pains
- Lack of sleep or oversleeping – Early morning wakefulness
- Irritability and aggression
- Restlessness
- Lack of focus and trouble concentrating
- Low sex drive and lack of excitement
- Appetite and weight changes
- Reckless behavior
- Suicidal thoughts and self-harm
Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, and hopelessness
Major depression is a type of depression where it affects your outlook at life. You are overly criticizing yourself and a sense of hopelessness and failure takes over you. You feel unworthy and question your every action. This kind of depressions attacks our self-esteem, and we are having a sense of ‘not being good enough’ all the time. You are always criticizing yourself for mistakes and little setbacks that are often a part of life.
Also read: Habits for a healthy mind and body
Fatigue and body pains
One of the main reasons you stop doing things you love and even house chores seem a burden to you is because you feel tired all the time. A major sign of depression is a constant feeling of fatigue that leads to oversleeping and being in a low mood all the time.
Some people experience unexplainable body aches, muscle pains, and stomach pains. They don’t engage in physical activities or sports, yet they feel muscle pains and complain of being too tired to even leave the bed.
Lack of sleep or oversleeping – early-morning wakefulness
Another major sign of depression includes sleep changes – Being sleepy during the day or waking up early in the morning. Some individuals experience insomnia where they don’t sleep for days and when they do, they sleep at odd times and do not get quality sleep.
Irritability and aggression
Chronic Depression in men causes feelings of irritability and aggression because they are not used to acknowledging the feelings of worthlessness and self-loathing. Even the everyday routine chores make them feel angry and their tolerance level is low.
Restlessness
A feeling of restlessness and feeling annoyed throughout the day. Tapping anything that is in your hand or always touching your fingers or rubbing your hands. Restlessness also stems from anxiety because a major sign of depression includes being anxious all the time.
Lack of focus and trouble concentrating
Depression makes you lose interest in your work, social life, and even family. Lack of focus and trouble concentrating on work is often a major sign of depression. You cannot seem to put your head in one place and focus on work. Your mind is wandering and overthinking stuff all the time that leads to a lack of concentration and not being able to work on time. When a lack of concentration occurs, you miss important work and then blame yourself.
Also Read: Stress relief activities
Low sex drive and lack of excitement
Your hobbies or social activities that you once enjoyed feel like a burden. Nothing excites you anymore and even being intimate with your spouse and having sex is seemingly like a big task which you do not feel like doing anything. When Sexual problems arise with your partner. You lose your ability to feel joy or pleasure.
Appetite and weight changes
Either you eat too much or you do not eat at all. In men, they tend to stop eating and focus on smoking, doing drugs, or drinking. In women, they tend to overweight and gain weight as a sign of depression.
Reckless behavior
You feel like there is no purpose of life so why bother being responsible for anything? Problems such as drug abuse, reckless driving, gambling or dangerous sports are common signs of depression
Suicidal thoughts
Depression results in having suicidal thoughts. In 2013, more than 42,000 people in the united states were reported to commit suicide as a result of chronic depression.
Some people show symptoms before thinking about suicide, most of them include
- Saying their goodbyes
- Keeping their affairs in order-making wills and power of attorneys
- Talking about ending their life
- Not moving for days or sometimes packing their stuff
If you know someone who might be experiencing suicidal thoughts, you can do your part
- Call 911 immediately or your local suicidal helpline
- Stay with the person until help arrives
- Ask them to seek medical help immediately
- Don’t judge, yell or cry if they talk to you – Just listen
- Clear your house of any dangerous weapons and kitchen knives
Signs of depression are also different for each gender. It expresses itself in different ways in men and women.
Depression in men:
Men are psychologically wired to not acknowledge any feelings of self-doubt and hopelessness as it might hurt their ego, or they appear weak in front of people. They show signs of depression in the form of anger, irritability, lack of sleep or sleeping too much, unfocused during work, low sex drive, and fatigue or body pains.
Depression in women:
Signs of Depression in women are often different as of men. They show signs such as oversleeping, overeating, feeling of guilt, overthinking, and sometimes abrupt reactions. The signs of depressions are often effected by menstruation cycles, pregnancy, and menopause. The most common type of depression in women is postpartum depression that affects 1 in 7 women after they give childbirth.
How to help someone who shows signs of depression?
- Listen and don’t judge – don’t over empathize as they might feel it as sympathy or pity
- Do not talk about their mental illness, again and again, try to make them feel normal
- Talk to them about their thought patterns and reassure them
- Appreciate them for what they do and don’t complain
- Be there for the person if they want to talk
- Be patient with them as it takes time to recover
Also read: 12 books that shine a light on depression
THE BOTTOM LINE
Having these symptoms normally on a daily basis is understandable. In life when we experience a setback we often feel discouraged and like a failure that leads to feeling depressed and low. However, if the symptoms are prolonged and consistent and you don’t feel good for a long time, you might be experiencing depression and you should seek help. Depression is a disease just like any physical disease that needs treatment and proper medication, there is no shame in accepting that you suffer from depression.
Depression is completely normal and is to be treated with utmost care. You are not overthinking, you need help and no matter what path you choose, seeking help is the first step to feeling like yourself again.
