There is a wide range of symptoms that must be taken into account when diagnosing depression: sleeping problems, a change in appetite, lack of concentration or energy, irritability, a tendency to avoid usual activities and even suicidal thoughts, depending on the severity of the person’s depression. It is the degree of the depression that actually indicates to the doctor what kind of treatment is appropriate to a certain individual.
There is no precise type of symptoms to be expected from a depressive patient. For instance, when we talk about ‘sleeping problems’ we may envisage either trouble sleeping, lack of good night sleep, or excessive sleeping, when the patient tends to spend too many hours in bed without even getting proper rest. Either case is unnatural and unhealthy. As for the eating disorders triggered by depression, the patient may eat too much, thus gaining weight, or lose his/her appetite completely, which causes a tremendous loss of weight and, consequently, of energy.
Agitation and restlessness in one patient may read as apathy and inactivity in another. Also, the depression victim may start having feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, even of guilt, which in the eyes of the family is completely inappropriate as there is no objective support to the feeling of guilt. Such patients start to hate themselves to such an extent that they sometimes plan to commit suicide and some of them manage to carry out their plan if specialized help does not intervene in due time.
If we pay attention to our behavior and to that of the people around, the ones that we care for, we have a good chance to notice such symptoms when they appear and take the necessary steps towards medical help and recovery.
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