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Depression Warning Signs and Symptoms

 

 

A person suffering from clinical depression can easily tell that something is wrong with their body especially when it relates to their mood and energy level. If the sufferer is perceptive enough they may not find it hard to see that their pain is coming from something happening inside and not due to external factors. Unfortunately there are many who live with the symptoms always feeling bad without understanding the reason why.

Since there are so many different symptoms that accompany a depression bout it is good to know what to look out for. Each individual is affected differently so the warning signs are rarely the same between two people. Personality traits, gender, health condition, age, and cultural background in a way determine how a person is affected by depression.

Despite the fact that depression is mostly referred to as a 'mental illness', it can also have as many physical symptoms as mental ones. Apart from the distressing feelings that are very characteristic in depression other physical symptoms become evident with time.

Below is a list of common depression symptoms

Mental symptoms:

  • Never-ending low mood
  • Loss of interest or enjoyment in nearly everything,
  • Guilt feelings,
  • Low self-esteem,
  • Feelings of Hopelessness
  • Impaired or slow decision making process,
  • Suicidal thoughts
  • Anxiety and panic attacks
  • Never ending feelings of sadness or unhappiness
  • Chronic Fatigue
  • Becomes easily Irritated or frustrated
  • Lack of sleep or excessive sleeping
  • Change in eating habits
  • Uncontrollable cravings or dislike for certain foods that may lead to weight gain or loss
  • Sluggish thought processes
  • Noticeable lethargy in voice or body movements
  • Loses focus very easily
  • Obsession with the past (especially of things that didn’t go right)
  • Poor memory

Physical symptoms:

  • Crying spells
  • Reduced sex drive
  • Sluggish movement or speech,
  • Increase or loss of appetite
  • Irregular menstrual cycles,
  • Constipation,
  • lack of energy
  • Inconsistent sleep patterns
  • Mysterious and uncomfortable physical problems, such as back pain or headaches


Social symptoms:

  • Avoid previous hobbies and interests,
  • Perform poorly at work or school,
  • Difficulties in relating to others on a personal level at home or with family,
  • Feels irritable and intolerant of others,
  • Has thoughts of harming someone others,
  • May go out their way to avoid meeting friends or other people
  • Becomes paranoid when left alone,
  • Engage in very little social activity
  • May feel like they are burdensome to others.

For many people this extensive list of depression symptoms causes a lot of confusion as to which makes not understand what depression really is. Rarely do you find definitions or descriptions that consist of all these symptoms. Furthermore, each depression patient has their own unique set of symptoms.