Symptoms of Depression

Fifty percent of the individuals who experience a mental health condition(s) during their lifetime begin having symptoms by age 14. The symptoms of depression are often extremely complex, and their combination and severity can vary greatly. Familiarizing yourself with common ones can help you understand and better support friends and loved ones who are depressed.

To qualify as depression, symptoms, which can can range from mild to acute, must persist for a minimum of two weeks. Females develop depression more often than males with symptoms that typically include guilt, sadness and worthlessness. Depressed males are more likely to be angry, irritable, restless and tired. Young children with depression may cling to a parent and/or worry that he or she will die, pretend to be sick or refuse to go to school.

Commonly reported symptoms during depressive episodes include:

• Avoiding eye contact;

• Being constantly anxious and/or having “depression” headaches, which generally present as a subtle throbbing around the eyebrows;

• Believing that you have lost control of your life and/or future;

• Chronic irritability;

• Displaying perfectionist tendencies, including always trying to please others;

• Eating is no longer appealing;

• Experiencing emotional numbness, which has been described as a “detached, meaningless fog.” (Risky behavior may then seem like the only way to feel good.);

• Having difficulty completing normal day-to-day activities and routinely feeling overwhelmed;

• Helplessness and hopelessness;

• Listening to depressive and violent music or using those themes in your writing;

• Requiring more than an hour to fall asleep, waking up in the early morning and/or oversleeping;

• Somatic symptoms, including body aches, bloating and other digestive issues, and joint pain;

• Taking much longer than usual to complete schoolwork;

• The inability to make major decisions, often replying “I don’t know.”; and

• Wearing somber or dark-colored clothing.

The larger the number of symptoms you observe, the longer they last and the more frequently they appear, the greater the attention you should give them. However, before you move forward with treatment plans or offer advice, book titles, hotline numbers and/or names of mental health providers, be sure to listen to the individual about his or her experience and feelings. Then ask how he or she would like you to offer support.

Depression affects how people think, feel and behave. When left untreated, it can worsen. During an initial exam, a doctor or mental health professional typically will ask when the symptoms started and about their severity and the length of their duration; if depression or other mental illnesses run in your family (It is believed that the heritability of depression is 40 to 50 percent when a first degree relative [a parent, sibling or child] has it.); and whether you have a history of alcohol or drug abuse. He or she also may conduct a blood test to make sure that the depression is not the result of a medical condition, such as a thyroid problem or a vitamin deficiency.