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Depression has both physical and mental symptoms because of which a person is unable to perform his/her daily functions normally. In fact, depression disrupts the quality of life and unless attended to, may lead a person towards hopelessness, despair, and chronic health abnormalities
It is quite disheartening to know that, according to the World Health Organization, by the next decade, depression would become the second most prevalent disability in the world! That is why it becomes essential to be able to identify the symptoms and reach medical and counseling help to those affected, as promptly as possible.
Depression symptoms are varied. The most obvious symptoms of depression can be listed as weight fluctuation, indifference to activities that formerly were the interesting or pleasurable, hesitant or slow manner of performing actions, tendency to cause harm to self, and sleep disturbances.
The same indications are also suggestive of other illnesses. That is why it is important to observe whether the symptoms have not waned for 15 days or more and they are not because of other issues like drug abuse or abuse of prescription medication.
If a person reports at least five of the following symptoms persisting for a fortnight or more then the person may be suffering from depression.
Symptoms
- The tendency to cry for no reason
- Unexplained irritability
- Fluctuations in body weight (In small children, expected weight gains do not occur)
- Eating and sleeping disorders
- Repeated nightmares in smaller children
- Decreased response and reaction
- Indifference to daily activities and to those issues that interested the person earlier
- Apparent lethargy as the person seems to take more time to get tasks done
- Restless and/or hyperactive behavior
- Unexplained exhaustion
- Decreased level of concentration
- Unexplained feeling of guilt
- Decreased level of self-assurance, self-confidence, and motivation to do tasks
- Adolescents may experience an unnatural boost of self-confidence to the point of recklessness
- Thoughts about suicide
Depression in older people
With old age, several health issues crop up. The most common symptoms of old age are quite similar to the symptoms of depression. In the event of an aged person suffering from depression, it becomes quite complicated to identify the symptoms.
Due to this, depression in elderly people may remain undiagnosed. Insomnia, waning of appetite, decreased vitality and enthusiasm, exhaustion, and loss of interest, in general, are likely symptoms of old age and definitive symptoms of depression irrespective of age.
Depression in young adults and children
Depression in children will have a marked effect on their academic performance. They tend to become more withdrawn in school, not responding to overtures of friendship and assistance, while some children exhibit strangely aggressive behavior.
The symptoms of depression are varied, but many of them are also common to other health disorders. It is important to identify whether a person really is depressed before administering counseling and treatment. Older people have symptoms similar to that of depression because of age and so it is difficult to diagnose if they are depressed.
