At some point in our lives, we might have experienced sadness, hopelessness, loss of interest, and lack of pleasure from

performing our routine activities. Is it called Depression? No, certainly not.

Mostly these symptoms are a completely normal response to unpleasant or stressful events that a person may experience, for example, financial pressure, death of a family member, friend or pet sometimes. Negative emotions are generally painful and overwhelming, but as time flies, these feelings or emotions become less intense and at some time disappear.

So, how can we define Depression? Depression or Depressive disorder is characterized by the persistent (over 2 weeks period)) feelings of grief that go beyond normal sadness.  Depression is a mood disorder that is defined as losing interest in activities once enjoyed.

 

Depressed people usually quit social relationships even with people they admire the most. Depression affects mood, thought, behaviour, and physical health. Depressed Men often feel angry and restless whereas women in depression feel sad, anxious and lonely. However, Depression left untreated can cause a multitude of serious physical and mental health consequences.

 

Do you think you might be depressed? In this blog, we will let you know about the signs and symptoms of depression to look for and some tips on getting the help you need.

 

9 Warning Signs of Severe Depression:

 

There are many symptoms of depression and these symptoms vary from person to person.  However, some symptoms are common and typical for everyone. And, they are as follows:

 

Sadness and Irritability:

 

• A depressed person will be exposed to Sadness and irritability that might be pervasive and does not seem to go away no matter what you do.
• For instance, you can still be sad and gloomy though surrounded by people you love the most. The sadness becomes your reality of life.
• Irritability is much more typical in teens. Teens will have more irritability than sadness when they are dealing with depression.

 

Feeling Hopeless:

 

• Depression can bring Hopelessness in getting better or it can be a sense of hopelessness about the future, career, family, especially kids or spouse.
• It is a very tough symptom to deal with.
• Other people always tell you about what you have. They tell you that you have so much to look forward to or in other words you already have everything (It can be anything. For example a car a house, or a well-settled life) that is required to live life at its fullest.
• But if you are really struggling with depression, that hopelessness takes over all the elements of happiness in your life.
• No matter how much resources you have, depression keeps you stuck with hopelessness all the time.

 

Loss of Interest and Pleasure:

 

• The third sign of depression is also called Anhedonia or loss of interest which means a person doesn’t find pleasure in things such as hobbies, pastimes, or social activities that he/she previously used to enjoy.
•  It is very tough to motivate oneself when the things that are really used to be liked, no longer hold the same enjoyment and pleasure.

 

Decreased concentration and Indecision:

 

• The fourth sign of depression is either decreased concentration and/ or indecision.
• The difficulty with making decisions and this can be really difficult when you have to function either in the workplace or you have a lot of responsibilities at home because you will find that it’s harder to complete the tasks that you need to complete and if you do need to make decisions there’s almost like this decision paralysis where you find that you can not get yourself to making choices that used to come really easily to you.
• Difficulty paying attention to something as well as remembering people, words, events, and experiences is also very common.
• Major depressive disorder also includes symptoms such as difficulty staying organized, forgetting a planned task or action or planning and organizing accordingly.

 

Changes in sleep pattern:

 

• The fifth sign of depression that one should be aware of is your sleeping patterns.
• This can be either insomnia (lack of sleep) or excess sleeping.
• Taking frequent naps, or getting up in the morning becomes very tough for Excessive sleepers.
• On the other hand, depressed people with insomnia might face a lack of sleep.
• Different types of thoughts just keep moving around the mind and they feel sad and hopeless and thus suffer from too much or too little sleep.

 

Changes in Weight, Appetite and Physical Health:

 

The sixth sign of depression that a depressed individual may experience is

• fatigue or lack of energy
• decreased movement or speech
• feeling restless or unable to sit still
• Unexpected cramps, headache, or digestive problems
• fluctuation in weight and appetite.

Sometimes in depression disorder, people use food for comfort and end up eating a lot and then start gaining weight. On the other hand, some may lose their appetite and don’t eat at all.

 

Sense of Worthlessness:

• This symptom is very difficult for people to handle because it’s a sense that no matter what they do, they are not doing enough.
• Their work or effort is not enough and it won’t ever be enough. However,  this is such a hard symptom which creates distress and makes it difficult to manage and perform daily routine tasks.
• Individuals who feel worthless always think they are useless, insignificant and they can not do any good to people or not even for themselves

 

Poor Hygiene:

• Poor hygiene can certainly be a sign of depression.
• If your loved one maintains pristine hygiene, and neatness in every way, for example, hair is always combed, teeth brushed, always smells fresh, and clothes are always clean but all of a sudden they no longer care about their physical appearance, do not want to shower- this can be a warning sign of Depression.
• Support from family, friends, co-workers, and relatives is very much important to manage such situations.

 

Suicidal Thoughts :

• The symptoms of clinical depression include feelings of low self-worth and increased hopelessness and despair.
• Depression and suicidal thoughts often occur hand in hand.
• It is probably the most important reason why 70% of adults refuse to admit that they are suffering from depression and need help.
• We all should immediately start thinking differently.
• Major depression does increase the suicide rate compared to people without depression. Depression often leads to suicidal thoughts regardless of gender and age.

 

Coping with Depression:

Depression can be unnoticed and unrecognized for months or even years.  This untreated depression has made lives worse and miserable which might lead to suicide or any self-harming activities such as substance abuse. Nevertheless, there are a number of coping strategies to deal with severe depression. These strategies can be divided into several categories. People who are depressed tend to have very negative thoughts about themselves and their future.

How to deal with negative thoughts:

Some of the thoughts need to be taken out of the darkness, reflected upon and checked so people with depression can build hopeful thoughts. But it is not that easy to change the thought. Logically or intellectually everyone understands this is a negative thought and maybe the thoughts that come to depressed people’s minds are not completely realistic. Yet they still keep thinking of those negative thoughts over and over again which contributes to depressive disorder. So it is important to have some modification or change in the thinking process of a depressed person. And this coping strategy can only be facilitated by an expert Mental Health Professional. Professionals will help a depressed person to change his or her relationship with a negative mindset through counselling sessions and other effective ways such as Therapy and Medication.

Behavioural Modification:

Adapting a good sleeping pattern, taking part in healthy activities, and a healthy lifestyle is crucial for a depressed person. People around a depressed individual can help with support and humanity.  People should help to build connectedness and meaning in their lives which will help to get rid of social isolation. If depressed individuals are isolated they will have a really hard time climbing out of depression because they are alone with those thoughts, nobody is with them, and they also don’t think that they are part of a bigger society.

Interpersonal Effectiveness Skill:

Learning to communicate and interact with others in respectful ways and maintaining social ties bring a lot of complications for an individual with Severe Depressive Disorder. Interpersonal effectiveness skills provide clear instruction on what one needs and wants from others.

This type of skill will help them and help a depressed person interact with people freely without any hesitation.

Please reach out to a professional psychologist. Sharing the whole picture of your mental, physical, and emotional health is very important to do the proper diagnosis and treatment. There are many things that people with depression can do to help themselves recover and stay well. For example,

• Set Realistic Goals for the betterment of your mental health situation
• Stay Active and keep working toward your treatment goals.
• Communicate openly with your counsellor.
• Stay positive.