We all experience feeling ‘down’ at times, or having the “blues”. However, when these states are ongoing and almost every day, then we might experience depression. When suffering from depression, you may experience changes in your mood, behavior, cognition, sleep patterns, and somatic feelings. For example, your mood might be anxious, sad, depressed, with apathy or inability to function, a feeling of general discontent, guilt, hopelessness, and a loss of interest or pleasure in activities. Your behavior might feel more agitated, with excessive worrying or crying, and you might feel more irritable or restless and socially isolated. Your sleep might be impacted by insomnia or excessive sleeping, restless sleep, or early awakening. You might experience weight changes, either weight loss or weight gain,  and excessive hunger, fatigue, or loss of appetite. Cognitively, you might feel a lack of concentration, slowness inactivity, or even thoughts of suicide.

Common of Depression are:

Mood: anxiety, apathy, general discontent, guilt, hopelessness, loss of interest or pleasure in activities, mood swings, or sadness.

Chronic depression or dysthymia is a milder form of depression that affects millions.

Postpartum depression is increasingly common after giving birth.

Experiences after the elated highs of mania to the major depression lows.

Do you get depressed during certain times of the year?