Symptoms of Depression

Depression is a mood or health disorder. It brings about feelings of sadness, loss, anger, etc which causes a lack of interest in daily activities, waste of time, and low productivity or efficiency.
Person’s with health conditions such as:

• Asthma
• Arthritis
• Obesity
• Cancer
• Diabetes
• Cardiovascular disease, feel worse when they are depressed.
• Things that make us sad and upset happen almost every day. It has become as it were, but the normal part of life.

But when we constantly feel low in spirit, helpless, and hopeless, we might be dealing with depression, thus, we need to check it.
Depression is a health condition that should be taken seriously because it gets worse without proper treatment.
Depression can be caused by so many factors ranging from physiological, circumstantial, and biological.

These causes can be detailed thus:

• Medical conditions: illnesses like chronic pain, and insomnia, (ADHD) Attention Deficit Hyperactive disorder, puts a person at a higher risk of getting depressed.
• Stressful events like divorce, economic crises, loss of a loved one.
• Brain structure: people whose frontal lobe of their brain is less active are more likely to get depressed
• Childhood trauma: when children start facing stressful events early on in life, they are traumatized hence vulnerable to depression.
• Drug use: If one already has a history of drug and alcohol abuse, that keeps one at risk.
• Family history: If one is from a family that has a record of depression or mood disorder, one is at risk of getting depression too.

True, these are possible causes of depression but, in most cases, health care professionals find it difficult to the particular cause of depression.
There is not a particular test done to identify depression but based on psychological evaluation and symptoms, your health care provider can diagnose it.
Health conditions like typhoid and lack of vitamin D can trigger depression.
Generally, depression can be dictated through:

• Thought
• Sleep patterns
• Moods
• Appetite
• Activity level

Yes, depression is more than just the feeling of sadness or feeling of “blue”. Depression has so many symptoms and it can be experienced differently among men, women, and children. Let’s discuss them.
Symptoms of depression in men: when men experience depression it affects their-

• Mood: E.g anger, restlessness, aggression, anxiety, irritability.
• Sexual interest: lack of sexual desires, reduction in sexual performance
• Sleep pattern: too much sleep, restless sleep, insomnia, no sleep at all.
• Emotions: Feelings of sadness, emptiness, hopelessness.
• Physical health: constant fatigue, pains, headache, indigestion.
• Behavioral pattern: engaging in highly risky behaviors, use of drugs, excessive drinking, thoughts of suicide.

Symptoms of depression in women:

Women suffering from depression have symptoms unique to them-
• Physical health: appetite change, change in weight, energy decrease, headaches, increased cramps, decrease in energy level.
• Emotional health: feeling helpless, empty, and sad
• Cognitive abilities: slow thinking and talking
• Sleeping habit: too much sleep, but no sleep at all at night, waking early.
• Mood: constantly has a mood swing

Symptoms of depression in children:

• Physical health: weight loss or gain, and decrease in energy, digestive problems, change in appetite.
• Emotional health: crying, and deep sadness, feelings of inferiority complex (that is, feeling I can not do anything right).
• Cognitive behaviour: E.g I poor performance in school, and lack of concentration, change in grades.
• Sleep patterns: too much sleep or sleeplessness
• Mood: irritation, crying, anger, mood swing.