1. Look for Unhappiness That Interferes With Daily Routines
Everyone feels down from time to time, but clinical depression entails significant and lengthy feelings which can spill over into other parts of your life. Symptoms of depression tend to vary from person to person. You may have difficulty concentrating, or lose interest in activities you used to enjoy. You might become tired easily or find yourself losing your temper at increasingly trivial incidents. You may lose your appetite or suffer fluctuations in your weight. Sometimes you can spot concrete reasons for feeling this way, but it may also arise with no apparent cause and recur over lengthy periods of time.
2. Check Your Sleep Patterns
Changes in your sleep cycle can indicate a case of depression. You might find yourself struggling to get to sleep or falling asleep at odd hours. Some people complain of oversleeping or an inability to rouse themselves in the morning. A general restlessness may plague you, especially during times when you are trying to fall asleep. That may have an impact on your overall energy levels, leading to other problems associated with depression.
3. Beware of Despairing or Suicidal Thoughts
Beyond general feelings of unhappiness, clinical depression may entail especially dark and painful thoughts. You may think that you are worthless or that nothing you do can ever go right. You may also entertain suicidal thoughts or find yourself considering ways to kill yourself. If you ever do, contact your nearest suicide hotline immediately, or call your therapist if you have one. Nothing is ever so bad as to merit taking your own life.
4. Watch for Physical Symptoms
Clinical depression doesn't always exhibit physical symptoms beyond a loss of energy or feelings of fatigue. But sometimes, you may experience more acute physical signs, such as aches in your back or another part of your body. Some patients complain of headaches as well. As with other symptoms of depression, these signs may come without any apparent cause or explanation.
5. Check for Symptoms of Other Conditions
Symptoms of clinical depression may also match those of other conditions, which differ significantly in cause and treatment. For instance, people suffering from bipolar disorder will exhibit symptoms of depression when they are on their "down" cycles, but will appear manic and full of excitement during their "up" cycles. Some mood disorders are more overtly affected by external circumstances, such as seasonal affective disorder, which recurs during specific times of the year, and postpartum disorder, which affects mothers who have recently given birth. Make sure a doctor or therapist properly diagnoses your condition and can separate clinical depression from a different disorder you may be experiencing.
