Perhaps you are already familiar with depression not because you have experienced it first-hand but you have seen it in movies or read it in books. It is among the mental health illnesses that cause people to end their own lives in order to stop feeling the pain and being a burden to others. But it shouldn’t stay that way for it is never too late to seek for help. When you know someone with depression, please do not hesitate to help them. Even though it is difficult to bring sunshine on their darkest hours, always remind them that you are there willing to help, listen, and fight alongside them.
Depression is clinically defined as a mood condition that creates a constant emotion of sadness and disappearance of interest. It is usually referred to as an extreme depressive condition or clinical depression, which impact a person’s ways of feeling, thinking, and behaving. This disorder can lead to several issues that affect the mind and body. This disorder can bring troubles and delays in an individual’s daily routine and may sometimes bring the feeling or thought that life is not worth to be lived.
The common misconception pertaining to depression is that you can easily “snap out” of it and that it is all in your head. But that myth should be eliminated as early as now because it does any good to those who are suffering with depression. Every single person in this planet must be aware about what depression can do to people.
Lucky for you, you are not dealing with monsters in your head. However, you must be open minded and sensitive enough to know that maybe in a corner in your neighborhood; there is one person who is suffering from depression. This mental health illness can be battled by their victims through medication, therapy, or both.
To get a better grasp on what depression is really like; here are the common symptoms about the said mental illness:
- Strong emotions, such as sadness, sorrowfulness, hopelessness, misery, melancholy, etc.
- Irritability, annoyance, and anger towards matters that are either big or small
- Depletion of interest or delight in almost all of your usual activities and hobbies
- Having trouble sleeping, either lack of sleep or too much sleep
- Easily get or feel tired, even the tiniest tasks take lots of effort
- Appetite reduction resulting to weight loss or intense food cravings resulting to weight gain
- Becoming anxious, agitated, and/or restless
- Sluggishness in terms of thinking, speaking, or moving
- Constantly feeling unworthy and guilty
- Blaming oneself for failures that were made from the past
- Having difficulty in focusing, thinking, creating decisions, and remembering
- Constant popping up of thoughts about death
- Having suicidal thoughts and, worse, attempting or committing suicide
- Unexplainable physical issues, like headaches, back pains, upset stomach, etc.
However, there are many people who suffer from depression that are experiencing severe symptoms; thus, making others notice the problems that they are dealing with because the signs are interfering with their daily routines. Some, on the other hand, continuously feel miserable, undeserving, and unworthy without even knowing why.
There are also different symptoms that appear in children and teenagers. The usual signs of depression between the two are the following:
- In children, the signs include sadness, annoyance, adhesiveness, distress, aches, weight loss, and lack of interest in school.
- In teenagers, the symptoms may include unhappiness, irritability, pessimism, worthlessness, rage, loss of interest in school, poor academic performance, intensely sensitive, feeling misapprehended, substance usage or abuse, unhealthy sleeping habit, isolation, and more.
The symptoms of depression also differ when it comes to adults for older people tend to experience the following:
- Memory troubles
- Changes in personality
- Experiencing body pains and aches
- Loss of interest in things that they once find delight, such as sex
- Fatigue and reducing of appetite
- Constantly having the desire to stay at home instead of socializing and discovering new things
- Having suicidal thoughts
If ever you are experiencing any of these symptoms or you know someone who is depressed, please do not hesitate to ask or provide help. It is never too late to eliminate the darkness that has conquered the world of these people. Take for example Mcleod on how to fight depression and other monsters that once reigned in his life.
You can always help those people with depression in your own little way, like raising awareness on mental health, breaking the stigma towards depressed people, letting them know that you are always there, and more. It is never too late to help. Here’s the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255 if ever you need or know someone that needs help. Talk to someone as early as now or be that someone that people with depression can talk to.
Alex Writes 