How do I know I am Depressed?

Depression is a common and debilitating mood disorder, everyone feels low sometimes but depression is not the temporary feeling of sadness that you can overcome in some time, with depression the feeling isn’t ending, it isn’t going away. Depression becomes a part of you, it affects you and your activities. You find it difficult and rare to regain your original moods. Life seems to have taken this road and these feelings have become permanent.

4-10% of people in England will experience depression in their lifetime, it’s always difficult for a depressed person to know if he really has the disease. Almost all of the symptoms of depression on their own are experienced by everyone at one time or another, including low mood, feelings of hopelessness, low self-esteem, lethargy and sleep problems. The more symptoms someone has, the more likely they are to be depressed. it’s time to check in with your doctor.

Insomnia

Insomnia and depression often go hand-in-hand. Over 80% of people with major depressive disorder also report insomnia symptoms or sleep disturbances. Not falling asleep is one of the earliest symptoms of depression

When sleep is disrupted the body’s main functions break down and having difficulty sleeping can also make anxiety, stress, and depression symptoms worse.  Deep sleep is where we produce growth hormone, a stage critical for memory and decision making, may altogether disappear with depression.

Appetite change

A change of appetite can be an early sign of depression or a warning of a depression relapse. People who have depression either lose their appetite and eat less than they did before, or else their appetite increases and they eat more than usual.

For some people, the thought of eating is unpleasant, and having to prepare a meal seems to require too much energy. In such cases, you may lose a significant amount of weight.

On the other hand, you may have an increase in your appetite and gain a lot of weight. You may even find that you crave certain types of food such as sweets or carbohydrates.

Fatigue

Fatigue is a very common symptom of depression. In fact, it is one of the most presenting symptoms of the disorder. Simple activities like to get out of bed and once out of bed, walking. Texting or even watching TV can seem exhausting

This is why fatigue is so destructive. As people become tired, they stop participating in social experiences and enjoyable activities. There are biological explanations given for the fatigue associated with depression and one relates to an enzyme called monoamine oxidase A, or MAO-A.   According to the scientific literature, this enzyme destroys neurotransmitters such as serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine which are all necessary to regulate both mood and energy levels. MAO-A levels are reportedly too high in persons suffering from depression and this causes the other neurotransmitters to be low. Thus, people with depression may feel abnormally tired as a result.

Difficulty concentrating

Depression can slow down a person’s ability to process information, thereby impairing concentration on work or other tasks. Depression fills one with negative thoughts, almost like an intrusion, which slows you down and makes constantly thinking about negative things in your world. As a result it makes it very difficult to focus on anything.

Anxiety

Research has shown a strong link between anxiety disorders and depression.  Men may be no more likely than women to experience anxiety—in fact, anxiety disorders are about twice as prevalent in women—but it’s often easier for men to talk about feeling anxious rather than.

Men may discuss concerns about work and whether the loss of a job will impede their ability to provide for themselves and their family.

Loss of interest

A common depression symptom is loss of interest in pleasurable activities like sex, hobbies, or social interactions. This may also show up as neglecting your responsibilities and your physical grooming.

Suicidal thoughts

Having thoughts of harming yourself is a serious symptom of depression and always needs to be taken seriously. If you’re thinking about suicide, you need to get help immediately.

Guilt

People with severe depression may feel that they are worthless and helpless. They may even experience their depression as a sign of weakness, and can be overly self-critical.