7 SIGNS OF DEPRESSION AND SYMPTOMS YOU MUST KNOW

7 SIGNS OF DEPRESSION AND SYMPTOMS YOU MUST KNOW

There are many things that you can do if you're depressed to feel a little bit better, to understand what those are, you first need to understand the typical signs and symptoms of Depression so that you may identify if this is something that you're struggling with. 

So, one of the most common signs of depression is a feeling of sadness or irritability that is really pervasive and doesn't seem to go away no matter what you do, if you're with friends, if you're by yourself, the sadness just sort of becomes your reality irritability can also be present and this is much more typical in teens that they will present with more irritability than sadness when they're dealing with depression. 

The second sign of depression is feeling really hopeless and this can be hopelessness about getting better it can be a sense of hopelessness about the future and the ability to sort of achieve your hopes and dreams and again it's a very tough symptom to deal with because other people can tell you that you have so much to look forward to or this great thing is happening in your life but if you're really struggling with depression that hopeless this just kind of takes over and keeps you stuck. 

The third sign of depression that you should be aware of is something called anhedonia which is really a fancy way of saying a loss of interest in things that you previously used to enjoy so for example you might really be into gardening and all of the sudden you find that no matter how many times you garden or if you try to garden there's just not the same joy that you're getting out of it that you used to or maybe you used to be social and enjoy spending time with your friends and you find that you just can't bring yourself to get out of the house and to go and interact with these friends and it's challenging to deal with because it's very hard to motivate yourself when the things that really used to be what got you out of bed and got you ready for the day no longer hold the same enjoyment and pleasure that they used to. 

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'll 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 just can't get yourself to the place of making choices that used to come quickly to you. 

The fifth sign of depression that you should be aware of your changes in sleep and this can be either that you find yourself sleeping a lot more than you used to and having a really hard time getting out of bed maybe you have never been a Napper and all of the sudden you're taking a nap every day on the other side of the spectrum many people who are struggling with depression find that they can't sleep that they're racked with insomnia for the first time in their life. They are trying to sleep, and their thoughts just keep running around and they're feeling sad and they're feeling hopeless and so either too much or too little sleep is a really cardinal sign of depression that you should be aware of. 

The sixth sign of depression is that you should be aware of your changes in appetite or weight and this can be either positive or negative depression sometimes when people are depressed they find that they use food for comfort and end up eating a lot more than typical and gaining weight and sometimes when people are depressed they lose their appetite completely and don't eat at all and find that they lose weight so if you've had any significant weight changes within the last couple months and you also have some of the other signs and symptoms it might be a good idea to consider that there's some level of depression going on that you're struggling with. 

Another and final sign of depression is a sense of worthlessness this is very difficult for people to handle because it's a sense that no matter what they do they're not enough their life is not enough, and it won't ever be enough, and this is such a difficult thing to be dealing with. 

So the overall message as you're learning about these signs of depression is that if you're experiencing these please reach out and make an appointment with a licensed professional to talk about this because this is something that can get better and you don't need to struggle with it on your own if you think that you or someone you love might be struggling with depression please reach out and make an appointment with a licensed professional for an evaluation many therapeutic techniques can help you or someone you love feel better and so it is strongly encouraged you not to hesitate to get the help that you need.