Is it Sadness or Depression? 8 Signs/Symptoms that You may Have Depression

Depression is a term that can sometimes be used to describe how we feel such as sadness. But often, people use the term a little bit too much when it isn’t depression at all, but to state that they are just sad. There are periods of times in a person’s life that can lead to sadness due to unexpected circumstances or situations. Being sad is a feeling/emotion that we all feel from time to time. Major depression disorder is a significant medical condition that can affect many areas of your life. It impacts mood and behavior as well as some physical functions like appetite and sleep. MDD is known as the most common mental health conditions in the U.S. Let’s take a look at some of the signs/symptoms of depression.

• Hopeless outlook- This means that major depression is a mood disorder that affects the way you feel or feel about life in general. For example, if you feel like you aren’t worth anything or your life isn’t worth anything, that is how you are going to look at yourself and your life itself. Having a hopeless or helpless outlook on life is the most common symptom of depression. Other feelings may be worthlessness, self-hate or inappropriate guilt.
• Lost of interest– Depression can definitely take over the things you love doing. I suffer from mild depression and I can relate to once loosing interest in the things I enjoy doing such as writing stories or blogging. When you have that loss of interest, it feels like emptiness and you aren’t sure what to do with it.
• Increased fatigue and sleep problems– Depression often comes with a lack of energy and a feeling of fatigue which can also lead to excessive sleeping. Sometimes I have trouble sleeping at night or being tired throughout the day when I went to bed early the night before. Most people can fall asleep easy and others have problems. Depression is also linked with insomnia. The lack of quality; restful sleep can also lead to anxiety.

• Anxiety– Depression hasn’t really shown any real connection with anxiety, but here are some symptoms of anxiety: nervousness, restfulness, feelings of danger, panic or dread, rapid heart rate, increased or heavy sweating, trembling, and trouble focusing.
• Irritability in men: Depression affects sexes differently. In men, depression may have symptoms such as irritability, risky behavior, substance abuse or misplaced anger.
• Changes in appetite or weight– Some people will have an increased appetite and gain weight or not be hungry and loose weight. With me, I always have an increased appetite and I don’t gain weight as fast as others, but I do gain a little.
• Uncontrollable emotions– One minute you can be happy, the next angry or angry one minute and start crying the next. People with depression experience mood swings a lot.
• Looking at death– Depression is sometimes connected with suicide. In 2013, more than 42,000 people died from suicide in the US according to the CDC and Prevention. People who die by suicide will show symptoms first.

If you know someone who is suffering from depression, or plans to commit suicide, here is what you can do:

• Call 911 or your local emergency number.
• Stay with the person until help arrives.
• Remove any guns, knives, medications, or other things that may cause harm.
• Listen, but don’t judge, argue, threaten, or yell.

All sources is from https://www.healthline.com/health/depression/recognizing-symptoms#getting-help