What is a Depression?
Depression is a mental disorder, and it is identified by symptoms of depression every day for at least two weeks or longer. It is also known as major depressive disorder (MDD) or clinical depression.
- Worldwide, more than 264 million people of all age groups suffer from depression. Women are more prone to depression than men mainly due to social (gender inequality) and biological issues (reproductive cycle disorders, hormonal imbalance, infertility, miscarriage, etc.)
Depression is different from person to person, here are the 10 symptoms of depression listed below:
- Low mood, sadness, loss of interest in usually pleasurable activities:
- Depression in people leads to mood swings that last longer and affects everyday life.
- Low mood consists of sadness, anxiety, less-self confidence, fatigue, and frustration
- Due to their depressed state of mind, they cannot do any enjoyable activities in their lives.
- Sleep problems:
- Depression and sleep are very much connected. Many people with depression suffer from sleep disturbances.
- Doctors may think twice to diagnose depression in the absence of sleep complaints.
- The common sleep symptoms include insomnia and hypersomnia.
- Suicidal thoughts:
- Major depression increases the risk of suicide.
- The majority of people who die of suicide have a mental disorder.
- Depressed individuals consider suicide the last and the best option to take them out of this situation when they can’t find any other treatment.
- Less appetite or over-eating:
- Few depressed individuals have increased appetite, while others have less.
- Emotional eating due to negative thoughts results in weight loss or obesity, causing health concerns. It can also make a person eat unhealthy foods.
- A person in a depressed state is unaware of their eating habits. By adopting this habit, they just want to distract their mind from depressive thoughts.
- Lessor no social interactions:
- Individuals with high depressive symptoms manifest more frequent negative social interactions and react strongly to them.
- They have less positive social interactions and experience social isolation.
- The above factors cause psychological changes, loneliness, and a sense of rejection in society.
- Poor work performance:
- Difficulty concentrating, making decisions, and remembering things can affect work performance.
- Depressed people experience job stress and poor social interactions with their colleagues, affecting their overall work performance.
- Due to poor work performance, the chances of losing the job increase and can damage their career.
- Poor health – Depression shows adverse health outcomes:
- Headaches
- Sweating
- Sensations of coldness
- Dizziness
- Nausea
- Hair loss
- Cardiac arrhythmias
- Dyspnea
- Back pain
- Low sex drive
- Addiction to alcohol or toxic substances(e.g. drugs):
- To cope up with a depressed state of mind, individuals mainly resort to alcohol and consumption of toxic substances(e.g., drugs)
- Mental health disorder increases the risk of substance abuse.
- Depressed people self-medicate with drugs or alcohol.
- Low energy and fatigue:
- Depression affects our brain’s neurotransmitters concerned with alertness and energy levels
- A depressed state of mind causes sleep disturbances leading to fatigue
- Symptoms like sadness, loneliness can further exacerbate fatigue
- Sense of failure or guilt:
- Self-blaming induces worthlessness, sadness, and depressed mood
- Intense guilt feelings give rise to negative thoughts
- Frequent thoughts of failing to accomplish something result in depression
Globally, depression cases are on the rise and major cause of disability. Unfortunately, even though effective treatments are available, many people receive no treatment for their mental illness.
Failure to detect early depression symptoms could result in grave health conditions like disability, psychotic episodes, and even suicide. Therefore, it is important to identify early symptoms of depression and take appropriate steps to tackle them.
