Are you experiencing symptoms of depression?

As human beings, we are capable of experiencing a myriad of different emotions.  This can make it difficult when we talk about mental health disorders.  What differentiates between sadness or depressed mood and a diagnosis of major depression?  How do you know that what you are experiencing is a disorder and not just normal grief, sadness or disappointment?  As we discuss this, keep in mind that you need to see your doctor or a mental health professional to officially be diagnosed with depression.  What I am giving you here today is information, not a diagnosis.

We all know that in some situations, sadness is an appropriate emotion.  When you experience the death of a loved one, the end of a relationship, or even the loss of a job, sadness is a normal response.  In these situations, the sadness or grief usually comes in waves allowing you to experience positive memories and even feelings of happiness in between.  Your tears are often mixed with smiles.  With grief, you usually do not have a drop in your self-esteem.  Some forms of sadness can affect your self-esteem, but this is usually temporary.  Also, regular sadness does not generally cause physical changes or complaints.

Symptoms of depression

If sadness and grief are normal in certain situations, how do we know when someone is actually suffering from depression?  There are symptoms of depression that we typically do not see in regular sadness or grief.  The biggest one of course is having low or depressed mood.  But this low mood must occur most of the day on a daily basis for at least 2 weeks.  There is not the normal ups and downs of emotion, just a steady low state.  There is a sense of hopelessness that is pervasive.  The other major symptom of depression is loss of interest in most activities, especially those you used to find pleasurable.  You no longer get excited about seeing your best friends or watching a great movie.  Things you once enjoyed doing now feel like a chore or seem tedious.

Depression has a tendency to disrupt some of your basic life functions, such as sleep, appetite and energy level.  People will often feel the need to sleep way too much, spending entire days in bed asleep.  Conversely, some can have trouble getting any sleep at all.  They have trouble falling asleep and will often wake up frequently throughout the night.  Similarly, appetite is often either increased or decreased to the point of causing weight gain or weight loss.  The weight change is enough to be noticeable by others.  You often experience fatigue and very low energy no matter how much sleep you are getting.  

The low energy can make it feel like you are less efficient at completing everyday tasks.  You may struggle at work getting assignments or projects completed.  Many people will have trouble thinking and paying attention to what they are doing.  They struggle to make decisions.  It is hard to focus on even simple things, like watching tv or reading a magazine.  Other people might notice that you have become more agitated and are constantly fidgeting.  Or, they notice that you seem to be moving and speaking more slowly than usual, like you are underwater.

negative thoughts

Unlike a dip in self-esteem, people with depression have persistent thoughts that they are worthless.  They believe that they are a disappointment to friends and family and have excessive guilt about this.  Feelings of self-loathing are common.  In addition to the hopelessness and feelings of worthlessness, people often feel helpless to be able to change anything about their situation.  

When these things intersect, it is not uncommon to have thoughts about death or dying.  Many people feel like the world would be better off without them, or just want the pain to stop.  Sometimes people actually think about hurting or killing themselves.  The thoughts may be intrusive and unwanted.  Sometimes they seem almost like a comfort.  Other times people will actually start planning for suicide or self-harm.  None of these things is a “normal” response to emotion.  They are symptoms of depression.

It is important to note that these symptoms represent a change from some previous “normal” state of being.  The symptoms also have to be severe enough that they actually cause impairment.  This means that they negatively impact your ability to function socially or at work, or interfere with personal relationships.  And the symptoms only represent depression if they are not caused by medical illness, a medication, or drug use.  Many things need to be considered, which is why a diagnosis of depression must come from your primary doctor, psychiatrist, or psychologist.

why is this happening?

So why do some people develop depression while others just experience “normal” sadness?  Unfortunately, we don’t really know the answer to this.  Depression can be a reaction to a stressful life event or a chronic stressor, but again we don’t know why it occurs in some and not others.  We know that more women experience depression than men.  Most cases first occur in adolescence and early adult-hood.  Depression is known to run in families.  We know that depression causes a decrease in the amount of some chemicals in the brain.  But why one specific person develops depression is likely a combination of all these different mechanisms.

If you read everything above and were left thinking “this feels like me”, I strongly encourage you to get help from a medical professional.  The easiest thing is to start with a visit to your regular doctor.  They can help figure out what symptoms you are experiencing, whether you meet criteria for depression, and rule out other causes of your symptoms.  They will also help you figure out the best way to treat your symptoms.  

If you don’t have a regular doctor, now is a good time to find one.  If you are a college student, you likely have access to some kind of campus mental health services.  The county you live in likely also has Community Mental Health services that you may qualify for.  SAMHSA has a national treatment referral hotline that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and can help you locate your local resources.  The hotline number is 1-800-662-HELP.