Depression is a very serious word, which these days is too casually thrown around. Be it boredom, heartbreak, work issues, lack of motivation or hormonal changes, the sufferer is tagged as a depressed person. Even for smaller meaningless stuff, like not being able to go shopping, phrases like I am depressed and need to get out, are chanted. Infact, it could also simply be a byproduct of too much overthinking. Just because you have time and nothing of much use to do, doesn’t mean you are depressed.
Know when you are depressed!!!
Depression isn’t something that can be cured by a chocolate chip cookie or a pouch of sugar. Buying new clothes or shedding a couple of kilos too cannot cure this problem. In a nutshell, if getting ready for a fun evening and chilling out in a nice café and posting pictures of you online makes it all better – you are not depressed; you just needed to get out of the house or stray away from typical work stress and you got that.
A complex medical condition, depression ought to be targeted with increased gravity. Just because you’ve been unhappy or lost for a few days at a stretch, looking for cures for depression isn’t right. But then are there any signs of depression? In other words, what are the symptoms of depression and how to identify them? What causes depression?
Signs of depression / common symptoms of depression
Consistent guilt / feeling of worthlessness – It is all my fault syndrome. The ones suffering from this challenging mental issue have a serious tendency to blame themselves for everything that isn’t perfect around them. Finding flaws and trying to improve is a good thing, but consistently carrying the burden of blame isn’t a desirable trait.
Complete withdrawal – Zero interest in anything or anybody is a trait commonly noted in people suffering from depression. This is different than no longer liking movies or unwillingness to go to a gym. Loss of interest is universal and applicable in the majority of situations. Just because your taste has changed and now you feel differently about your usual social circles, doesn’t mean you suffering from depression.
Other medical reasons – Many times people are suffering from other medical problems like thyroid, fluctuating sugar levels, BP, cholesterol or hormonal changes. One account of these issues, one feels fatigued, bloated or irritable. Sleeping disorder is also a common side effect. When clubbed with aging, these problems are often considered as a state of depression, however this isn’t the case. Depression does have physical implications like fatigue and sleeping issues, etc., but these problems aren’t necessarily indicative of depression. Only proper physical diagnosis can unearth the mystery. Thus don’t jump to conclusions and get the required clinical tests done.
Massive mood swings – You are perfectly fine and even a minor snarky comment from a colleague leads to an outburst. This unexpected emotional reaction, which you later totally regret, is a symptom of depression to look out for!
Suicidal thoughts – Wanting to end things is clearly a red flag. If you or anybody around is fidgeting with the idea, get immediate professional help.
Less common in Asians??
Studies suggest that Asians (Indians are part of this profile) are less prone to this critical problem. However, this could simply be a result of unavailability of appropriate measures to diagnose and / or lack of willingness amongst sufferers to acknowledge the problem and get help. Results of this underdiagnoses or misdiagnosis are increased severity of the situation, which in rarest case could also lead to suicide. Thus, best to get help.