Depression is a state when one experiences a specific low mood that can affect a person’s thoughts. It is thought to be caused by an imbalance of brain chemicals and other factors. Furthermore, a person’s behaviour, feelings and physical well-being is being altered. People who are depressed may suffer from uncontrollable sadness, restlessness, anxiety, irritability, hopelessness, guiltiness etc. They also often lose interest in activities that once they were enjoying. They are also prone to loss of appetite or overeating. They lose the ability to concentrate and make decisions and worse, they may attempt suicide.
The list below serves as a more detailed list of the symptoms of depression:
- Pessimism- thinking that nothing will ever get better and there’s nothing you can do to improve your situation.
- Loss of interest in daily activities- it seems like you lose interest in former hobbies and social activities that you once love, even sex.
- You’ve lost your ability to feel joy and pleasure.
- Appetites lose and sudden weight change-significant weight loss or weight gain. Losing or gaining more than 5% of body weight in a month.
- Sleep changes. Either insomnia, especially waking in the early hours of the morning, or oversleeping or hypersomnia
- Irritability and restlessness.
- Feeling agitated and on edge. Your level of tolerance is critically low that is feels like everything and everyone gets on your nerves.
- Loss of energy.
- Feeling fatigued, sluggish, and physically drained. Your whole body may feel heavy, and even small tasks are exhausting or take longer to complete.
- Strong feelings of worthlessness or guilt. You criticize yourself harshly more often over unnecessarily small faults and mistakes.
- Concentration problems. One experience trouble of focusing, making decisions, or remembering things.
- Unexplained aches and pains. An increase in physical complaints such as headaches, back pain, stomach pain etc.
Like any serious illness, depression should be treated and the earlier a person would notice the illness is way much better.
Upon recognition of these signs of depression in yourself or a loved one, please immediately take time to explore the many treatment options. In most cases, the best approaches involves a combination of self-help strategies and understanding one’s self, change of lifestyle and seek medication and advice from professionals. We got to live only once, we must love the life we have and take care of it.