Common Signs of Depression
- Depressed mood most of the day. You're feeling sad and blue.
- Marked diminished interest or pleasure in most activities. Things that used to give pleasure don’t seem to have the same impact. Everything seems kind of gray.
- Significant unintended weight loss or gain. Depression can show as uncharacteristic increases or decreases in appetite.
- Insomnia (Can’t sleep) or hypersomnia (Excessive sleeping).
- Psychomotor agitation or retardation (can’t sit still or can’t get moving).
- Fatigue or loss of energy. Everything seems like an overwhelming effort.
- Feelings of worthlessness, excessive or inappropriate guilt. Can’t stop thinking about the guilty situation.
- Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness.
- Recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal ideation, plan or attempt. If this is true for you, please contact your medical doctor for further evaluation immediately.
These symptoms are from the DSM-IV, used by Mental Health Professionals to diagnose depression. When many of these symptoms continue for weeks at a time, you are probably experiencing depression and need help to deal more constructively with these problems. The first step is contacting your family physician for an evaluation.
Life can be very different when you get the help you need to cope with depression in healthy ways. The tools in this Web site can help you begin to learn a different way.
