About 14.8 million Americans will experience some form of depression each year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. To understand the difference between a mere bad mood and true clinical depression, however, it is important to be able to recognize the symptoms. Although experiencing one or two symptoms may not indicate that you are clinically depressed, if you experience several, you should seek medical help.
Feelings of Despair
You may feel that the future looks bleak and that you are helpless to change your situation. If you often find yourself thinking that nothing will ever get better, you may be clinically depressed.
Loss of Ability to Feel Pleasure
You may find that activities that you once enjoyed are no longer pleasurable for you. These activities include not only hobbies and interests, but also everyday activities, such as socializing, food and sex.
Change in Body Weight
If you are depressed, you may cut down on eating due to a loss of interest in food. Alternatively, you may find yourself overeating to compensate for negative feelings. If you have experienced a significant increase or decrease in weight recently for no apparent reason other than a spontaneous change in eating habits, you may be depressed.
Disrupted Sleeping Patterns
Depressed people may find themselves unable to sleep or waking at odd hours. On the other hand, many depressed people oversleep. Consistently awakening before dawn is strongly associated with depression.
Irritability
If everything gets on your nerves or if you find yourself constantly angry, you may be experiencing a side effect of depression. A related symptom is extreme restlessness--the inability to sit still or remain in one place for long.
Fatigue
If you are depressed, you may feel physically drained and unable to complete simple tasks. You may find it almost impossible to exercise or work.
Low Self-Esteem
Feelings of self-loathing and self-contempt often accompany depression. The lack of ability to accomplish much along with negative changes in your lifestyle caused by depression can exacerbate these feelings.
Difficulty Concentrating
If you are depressed, you will find it difficult to remember things or focus on a task--your mind will wander constantly. You will also find it difficult to make even simple decisions.
Unexplained Bodily Pains
Depressed people often experience psychosomatic pains. Although these pains can occur anywhere on the body, the most common ailments are headaches, backaches, muscle aches and digestive problems. Be sure to rule out physical causes before concluding that your ailments are psychosomatic.
Thoughts of Death
Depressed people not only think of suicide quite often, that also tend to think of death in abstract ways much more often than other people. Even if you are not thinking about suicide, constant thoughts of death may indicate that you are depressed.
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