Depression Symptoms

How can a person tell if he or she is having a bout of depression? Aside from the constant feeling of being down or sadness and hopelessness that may pervade a person’s mind, there are other symptoms that can point to depression. Here are some of them:

• Some people say they are depressed when they are feeling down for a day but true depression is actually a condition that lasts for days, weeks, months, and even years. Oftentimes, when a person is truly depressed, he might find himself unable to perform daily tasks like go to work, take care of family matters, and even eat.
• Some of the other symptoms of depression include feelings of irritability or agitation, loss of energy or constantly feeling tired, feelings that revolve around thoughts of inadequacy and incompetence, and the general feeling of sadness.
• You can also find yourself losing interest in the things you used to enjoy doing, losing your appetite for everything including the foods you used to love to eat, and the need to just cry your eyes out. You may also find that you welcome thoughts of suicide.
• Physical signs of depression include loss of weight or increase in weight, sleeplessness, and the need to find comfort in food or to continuously eat.

Clinical Depression Symptoms

Signs of clinical or major depression are restlessness, loss of self image, irritation, sudden interest loss in daily activities, and difficulty in taking decisions.

Dysthymia Symptoms

Signs of dysthymia are constant feeling of sadness, over or little sleeping, insomnia, guilty feeling, difficulty in concentrating at particular problem.

Teen Depression Symptoms

Signs of teenage depression are severe anger and irritation, increase in sleeping hours, absentism in school, death thoughts. Most of the depressed child symptoms are similar to adults while few differ.