The video in this post mentioned some symptoms of depression, but here we’ll be going into more depth.

So what are the symptoms of depression?

Firstly and obviously, you will feel sad. However, it’s not the kind of sadness that you may feel because of scoring badly on a test, or because of a rainy day, or even more severe kinds of sadness like grief over the loss of a loved one, or a break-up. Depression can cause you to be persistently sad, empty or even anxious.

Next, depression may make you feel hopeless, pessimistic, guilt, helplessness or even worthless. In serious cases, these feelings may lead to you wanting to take your life.

Third, you may lose your appetite or feel less interested in things you used to love doing (like your hobbies)

Fourth, it’s quite common for people with depression to have a decreased level of energy, or feel fatigued or “slowed down”. So if you feel like you constantly can’t get out of bed in the morning, perhaps you might have depression.

Fifth, general sleep problems like insomnia, oversleeping, early-morning awakening, or oversleeping could only indicate depression.

Sixth, restlessness or general irritability as well as difficulty concentrating, remembering or making decisions, could also be explained by depression.

Last, persistent physical symptoms like headaches, digestive disorders and physical pains that can’t be explained by anything else.

A general note is that if you have depression you don’t necessarily have to have ALL these symptoms. However, for a proper diagnosis, as a general rule of thumb, you need to have at least 5 symptoms or more for an extended period of at least either 1 or 3 at least nearly daily for a sustained period of two weeks.

Now that you’ve understood the symptoms of depression, let’s move onto the types of depression! See you at our next post!