Symptoms of Depression

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Paradox of Depression

An interesting fact about depression is that it is possible for someone to be depressed without knowing it. You may never describe yourself as depressed or even sad. You may have little awareness of sadness, but you may still be depressed.

Many different symptoms make up the syndrome labeled depression, and sadness is just one of them. People often know how to mask their feelings and hide them not only from others but from themselves as well. If you know how to put on a "happy face" when you are feeling down then you might do this. If you can smile while feeling bad then others may think that you are all right. If you are very good at this hiding of emotion then you may also fool yourself. You may mask your depression behind a smile.

Symptoms of Depression

How do you know if you are depressed? What are the symptoms? Below are shown the major signs of depression. As you see there are quite a variety of them. The presence and degree of these symptoms in your life determines whether you are depressed or not.




Sadness	Discouragement	Sense of failure	Guilt

Feeling punished	Disappointment	Self-criticism	Suicidal ideation

Concern about appearance	Irritation and frustration	Loss of social interest	Difficulty in decision making

Crying	Can't work	Poor sleep	Lack of energy

Poor appetite	Weight loss	Physical symptoms	Loss of interest in sexuality

How are you doing?

If you think you are depressed it is a good idea to measure the symptoms you might have.

Measuring depression is like getting on the scales before you go on a diet. When dieting you should weigh yourself before starting so when you weigh again you can tell if you are making progress. Knowing your initial level of depression is helpful when you begin working to lower it. You can use your initial depression score to track your progress over time.