Depression symptoms differ based on a person’s age, sex, and other personal and social factors. But before that, let’s look at the meaning of depression.
What Is Depression?
Sometimes also known as clinical depression or major depressive disorder, depression is a mood-related illness. It is characterized by a range of symptoms like a persistent feeling of being sad or losing interest in daily life activities. These psychological issues start affecting how a person is feeling, thinking, and behaving. Over time, this also starts developing several mental and physical issues. People might begin feeling overwhelmed just to carry on with their lives each day.
Various factors can trigger depression in an individual. Chemical imbalances inside the brain, biological changes, genetic tendencies, imbalances, or changes in hormones (due to pregnancy, childbirth, menopause, thyroid, etc,) can bring depression. Prolonged stressful circumstances, trauma, and major life changes can also lead to a depressive episode. Additionally, personal loss, low self-confidence, and pessimism, possibly increase the danger of depression. Sometimes, other biological or psychological illnesses or some medication escalates the chances of developing this psychological condition.
During such a phase, one would experience facing difficulty in carrying out daily activities and start to think that living their life is not worth it. Depression is much more than a sudden wave of sadness because of difficulties and traumas in life. This is why it is frequently misjudged as mood swings. If someone is depressed, it doesn’t make them weak and people can’t just get over it all of a sudden. Prolonged psychotherapy, medication, care, and patience are required to fight depression.
People start feeling hopeless and fail to enjoy activities that once used to make them happy. They face difficulty in sleeping and face trouble making decisions. Moreover, physical signs like fatigue and body ache might also occur. Indicators of depression are complicated and it varies significantly from one person to another. These signs linger for several days or weeks, sometimes months. Eventually, becomes much worse to affect a person’s work life, eating and sleeping patterns, interpersonal relations, and social and family life. This is exactly when people should get medical attention and not ignore thinking it is a feeling of blue.
It is estimated that over 264 million people globally suffer from depression. This condition can distinctly present itself in the case of each person. Since several individuals face unique forms of depression and signs, diagnosing it can be occasionally difficult. Among the most prevalent psychological conditions in the United States is depression. A survey in 2017 by the National Institutes of Health, found that approximately 71% of every American adult (around 20 million people) faced a period of major depression in the previous year.
As the first step towards feeling better and getting over the disorder, it is crucial to identify the early signs and act accordingly. Sadly, approximately half of the individuals experiencing depression fail to receive proper treatment and diagnosis. Regardless of how broken one may feel, one can see improvement by starting with a certified mental health doctor and appropriate medicines. However, if this is not resolved at the right time, it might cause major health issues. This can lead to harming the one facing depression as well as all people around him. Depression might even result in suicide as it happens in the case of every 1 in 10 people.
It is important to remember that if one feels helpless or hopeless, those are just symptoms of depression, not the ultimate truth of their existence. Different people define their depressive stage in different terms. Some feel dull, lethargic, and detached, while others might convey it as they are ‘residing inside a black hole’. Especially men might experience anger and restlessness. This diagnosis is not possible via any physiological examinations.
10 Signs and Symptoms of Depression
Indications of depression can be mental as well as physical. Based on a 2017 research published in ‘The Journal of Affective Disorders’, there can be around 52 unique symptoms of chronic depression that vary from person to person. According to Eiko Fried, a Ph.D., associate professor of clinical psychology at Leiden University in the Netherlands, two psychological patients can exhibit no signs in any way but still have a similar critical depression analysis.
Clinical depression may occur to people only once in their lifetime, but some usually have episodes of relapses. Throughout this time, such signs can happen the majority of the days and during the entire day. Though the indications and symptoms of depression differ from one person to another, there are certain universal characteristics.
Based on the number of symptoms one is dealing with, their intensity, and duration, one can reinforce the fact that it is depression. If anyone is having a bad mood, a lack of enthusiasm, and difficulty in sleeping, during the entire day, or for over 2 weeks, chances are high that he/she is struggling with depression. Even though two people with a similar form of depression might not show the same signs, certain signals of depressive disorder are typical.
Here are 10 warning symptoms of depression (psychological, physical, and social) that one must watch out for-
Persistently Feeling Sad Or Having A Low Mood
This is a common psychological sign of depression. Feeling sad, teary, and hopeless are signs of low mood. A violent emotional outburst and irritation are further indications. It is often found that depressed men are angrier rather than openly expressing their sadness. One might suffer from a persistent feeling of unease or restlessness. At times, depressed individuals might claim to feel stagnant or emotionless in life. They might also struggle to emotionally react to anything happening to them, regardless of whether it is positive or negative.
Numerous individuals experiencing a phase of depression, often start feeling intense guilt concerning current or past misdeeds. Self-hate or harsh criticism, pessimism, emptiness, and poor self-esteem are also commonly faced symptoms. People start experiencing a feeling that their situation will never improve and that nothing can be done about it.
Depression often compels a person to continuously think of themselves as a failure and that they are unable to contribute to society. They feel other people are not bothered about their existence. However, these kinds of emotions might or might not be triggered by real-life incidents. Furthermore, anxiety issues frequently develop along with depression and sensations of inevitable doom. In situations like this, colours start appearing dull and patients lose the charm of music in their lives. Everything becomes gloomy and lifeless around them.
The sadness experienced is often unexplained. The severity, time span, and reason, more precisely lack of any reason, decide if this could be related to depression. The feeling of unhappiness sticks with the person, even without any specific trigger factor. In certain cases, therapists can identify specific stress factors causing the first depressive episode, but they can’t always locate the later stress-causing issues.
Losing Interest In Regular Activities
Depressed individuals start thinking it is worthless to do any ordinary domestic task, social engagements, or office work. Hobbies, social trips, and meeting with friends won’t suddenly interest the person anymore. They would try to isolate themselves and participate in lesser social occasions.
Individuals might not want to do things or may have a difficult time generating the motivation to accomplish them. Any previous hobby, leisure time activity, social gatherings, or sexual activities are of no importance anymore. Their capability for experiencing happiness or satisfaction is lost. Depression usually causes Anhedonia or a decreased capacity to feel happiness.
Feeling Fatigued, Anxious, Or Short Of Energy
Mostly we link depression with psychological and emotional signs, however, it can lead to physical problems as well. This frequently imitates issues of other illnesses. According to psychiatrists, fatigue itself does not always signal depression. But, if this experience continues along with a depressed mood and lack of enthusiasm and interest, then this might signify the initial phases of depression.
Lower energy levels and drowsiness are often experienced by people which will make even simple tasks difficult and more time-consuming. This condition of feeling drained out or dizzy won’t resolve even after sleeping for longer durations. People might start to feel their entire body is getting heavy. At work, individuals battling with depression might start feeling drained out on a regular basis.
Each uniquely experiences anxiety and agitation. Either it can be generalized, illogical, or agonizing thoughts or worries, or it might be anything specific such as experiencing high levels of anxiousness in public situations or claustrophobic tendencies in a lift or closed spaces. It is noticed that individuals having depression usually had a history of anxiety problems in early life.
During such depressive occurrences, people start feeling that things are moving slowly in their lives. They aren’t able to maintain the pace as they are overwhelmed. In case someone is experiencing catatonia along with depression, they may start feeling trapped, or being present in a state of pause which is intimidating to those around them.
Facing Insomnia
The sleep cycle can drastically alter as a consequence of being depressed. One might become sleepless as falling asleep can become extremely challenging. They might also get up more early in the morning unlike they usually did. Anything can disturb them from sleeping, forcing them to stay awake all night or wake up continuously.
Furthermore, individuals might also possibly go through a condition called hypersomnia. One can sleep for 10 hours at a stretch but still wake up feeling tired and demotivated. They can have a hard time even leaving their bed. All this soon starts to interfere with a person’s everyday duties.
Change In Appetite And Weight Issues
Change in one’s weight and eating patterns is very common in the case of depression. Some might start craving more food, whereas others might experience a complete lack of appetite. Individuals may also start losing or gaining weight unintentionally.
If a person puts on weight, a minimum of 5% of their total body weight within a brief period, causing high discomfort, then this can be regarded as a part of depression. Changes in food habits and fluctuations in weight can also lead to constipation, digestive issues, and change in the menstrual cycle.
Feeling Angry Or Irritable
Depression can exhaust a normal person’s mental and physical energy. Sudden angry overreactions, feeling cranky, frustrated, and quickly losing temper are typical indications of depression. Lower tolerance levels while dealing with others and screaming at family and friends sometimes, may also induce guilt and hamper relationships.
All these might force a person to opt for negative habits like substance abuse, gambling, careless driving, or extreme sports, to escape their miserable reality. The individual might not even realize that he is overthinking and behaving violently at everybody and in all situations, even if it is something petty.
Struggling To Concentrate, Remember And Take Decisions
With the rise in depressive tendencies, concentration abilities might be hampered. Due to brain-fog syndrome, people gradually lose their potential of thinking straight. Sometimes this happens because of any lingering personal matter or work pressure. However, to ensure this isn’t depression, one should evaluate whether their memory or attention span is deteriorating or not.
Individuals might start forgetting important meetings, deadlines, and work-related commitments, including struggling to arrive at a conclusion. If the ability of decision making, concentrating, and remembering considerably declines in a person over time, immediate help should be taken.
Body Pain and Cramps
Persistent headaches, pain, and cramps without any particular reason can also signal depression red flags. A person might notice a sudden increase in physiological discomforts like migraine issues, back pain, stomach pain and cramps, and sore muscles. Body aches might be an unexpected sign of depression, but in certain cases, physical discomfort could be a condition during a depressive episode.
Psychomotor Disorder
The term ‘psychomotor’ denotes the link between thought (cognitive functioning) and physical activity. Depression can also lead a person to talk, think, move, and walk much slower than he usually does. Possibly they can be on overdrive or angry most of the time. In many situations, just the patient claiming to experience this sensation is not adequate for the therapists. They also attempt to know whether other individuals around the patient have also seen them displaying abnormal psychomotor issues.
Those who suffer from psychomotor impairment notice a slowing down of their cognitive and physical functioning, optic movement, and expressions of the face. People find it difficult to balance and coordinate and they tend to move repeatedly. These symptoms of depression massively hamper day-to-day tasks like doing chores, writing a signature, exercising, following a conversation, etc. If this reaches a severe stage, it might lead to a condition of minimal to zero movements, along with not talking at all.
Thought or Attempt of Suicide
Depression and gloomy mood might force people to attempt about ending their lives, and they are not willing to exist any longer. This is one of the most serious indications of depression. Thoughts of suicide start manifesting in a person at this stage, so it is high time to reach out for help before it's too late.
This should be identified by the family and friends of the person when the latter writes and draws about suicide, completely isolates themselves from others, stops eating or talking, deletes their social media profiles, shares depressive posts, or gives away their money. Repeatedly thinking about dying, being obsessed over suicide, formulating a suicidal plan, or attempting to commit suicide are very crucial symptoms of major depression and should not be ignored at any cost.
Therefore, these are some important indications of depression in a person. Nevertheless, no one with clinical depression needs to experience all the above symptoms similarly. The signs are distinct for each individual based on the intensity, how regularly these are happening, and the time duration till which these signs can persist. Apart from the usual ones, there are also several hidden symptoms. Yet, people should keep in mind that sometimes other physical ailments might also mimic some symptoms of depression.
Moreover, these signs can occur in a pattern, as seasonal change can also cause depressive behavior. This is because two brain enzymes related to depression, mainly norepinephrine and serotonin, affect a person's emotions and suffering.
Levels of Severity in Depression
Depression has a habit of developing slowly over time, therefore it can be hard to diagnose whether anything is going wrong. Many individuals attempt to deal with their issues, unaware of the fact that they are mentally ill. Depressive disorder is classified by doctors based on the intensity-
- Mild Depression- few effects can be noticed in a person’s regular life functioning.
- Moderate Depression- the symptoms cause a significant impact on the regular life activities of an individual.
- Severe Depression- it becomes acutely impossible for a person to carry on with his daily life schedule and a handful of individuals might also start experiencing psychotic symptoms.
Conditions That Can Feel Like Depression
Sometimes health issues can also result in depression. However, there are several physical and biological ailments as well, including anxiety and bipolar disorder, which people can confuse with clinical depression. Let’s look at some similar conditions-
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)- Indications like feeling restless, unable to concentrate and pay attention, irritation, and losing determination in life, are all common in depression and ADHD.
- Severe Fatigue Disorder or Covid-19- Constant tiredness, changing sleeping habits, and losing concentration can also develop because of severe fatigue or as an after-effect of Covid-19.
- Parkison’s Disease- Adults can feel they are losing energy, their movements are slowing down, accompanied by mood swings and memory loss which can be due to Parkison’s disease and not depression.
- Fibromyalgia- Continuous sleeping, exhaustion, and changes in mood can be misread as depression when these are actually caused by severe musculoskeletal suffering due to fibromyalgia.
Other kinds of severe body pain can also make one feel frustrated and drained out. A few more medical conditions which mimic symptoms similar to depression are diabetes, insufficient vitamin D, anemia, lower levels of blood sugar, and hypothyroidism. Causes of these symptoms can be identified by testing blood and other biological examinations.
Conclusion
The society where we live has associated several negative stereotypes with depression. Due to this, certain individuals are reluctant to acknowledge the fact that they are depressed and open up about it. Instead, they focus more on their bodily symptoms. Depressed people also try to disguise their symptoms from the outer world, in the fear of being mocked or misunderstood. This is why sometimes the close ones fail to identify that one of their family members or friends is suffering from depression.
Psychologists advise people to be mindful while assessing a person’s psychological well-being depending on their looks. They often deal with patients who seem perfect, happy, and stable, but in reality, are suffering from major depression.
Therefore, if anybody feels they are battling with depression, they should consult a doctor or mental health expert immediately. Other ways to deal with this issue are-
- Managing stress by meditating, doing regular physical exercise, deep breathing techniques, or doing yoga.
- Boosting self-confidence using positive affirmations.
- Trying to be social and open with others.
- Participating in their favourite activities or nurturing their hobbies and talents.
- Consuming a healthy and nutritious diet.
- Seeking assistance from near and dear ones.
- Connecting with a support group.
- Reading motivational or self-help books.
- Spending time in nature.
Those looking after a depressed person can also support them by talking with them regarding the issues they are facing and giving genuine support and guidance. They can encourage the individual to reach out for help, take them to check-ups, plan to do exciting and fun activities together, and especially, take care of themselves for preserving a good state of mental health simultaneously.
Thank you for reading!
References
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- ‘Depression Symptoms and Warning Signs’ by Melinda Smith, Lawrence Robinson, and Jeanne Segal. HelpGuide, December 5, 2022. Available from : < https://www.helpguide.org/articles/depression/depression-symptoms-and-warning-signs.htm >
- ‘Top 10 Signs and Symptoms of Depression’ by Kimberly Drake. PsychCentral, June 22, 2021. Available from: < https://psychcentral.com/depression/top-signs-symptoms-of-depression#When-to-see-a-doctor >
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