Major Depression Symptoms and Warning Signs

Typical major depression symptoms can be classified into two main categories, physiological and psychological.

Some of the physiological symptoms of major depressive disorder are:

• Insomnia: Inability to sleep well at night, lack of sleep that continues for extended periods of time, resulting in tiredness and fatigue.
  
  
• Lack of appetite: Loss of appetite generally results in weight loss, associated physical problems and ultimately total lack of energy.
  
  
• Physical ailments: Regular headaches, unexplained aches and pains that do not always respond to treatment.
  
  
• Poor reflexes: It is difficult for patients suffering from major depression to move quickly and all physical activities seem like a struggle to them.
  
  

Psychological major depression symptoms associated with the condition are:

• Inability to focus or concentrate: This is one of the most important warning signs of major depression. Increasingly, one will find that afflicted persons are not able to focus their attention or concentrate on any particular task.
  
  
• Difficulty making decisions: Patients suffering from major depression find it extremely challenging to arrive at decisions or take a firm call on any issue, personal or professional.
  
  
• Feelings of hopelessness and sadness: One predominant and constant major depression symptom that affected persons often complain about is overwhelming feelings of hopelessness that do not seem to go away despite trying to engage themselves in various fun activities.
  
  
• Thoughts of suicide: Persons suffering from major depression generally end up entertaining thoughts of suicide mainly because they feel they are worthless and work themselves into this trap. Untreated cases of major depression may end up attempting suicide, and nearly 10 to 15% of them succeed in ending their lives.
  
  
• There are several other symptoms related to major depression, like uncontrollable crying spells, hypersensitivity, fears of unexplained nature, restlessness, and a tendency to blame themselves for things that have gone wrong and to ultimately feel guilty and ashamed.
  
  

If friends and family find that a person exhibits more than a total of five of the above major depression symptoms, and they last for longer than two weeks, it is advisable to seek professional help and ensure that all signs and symptoms are shared with the psychiatrist or psychotherapist.

Ultimately, it is important to make the afflicted person aware of his or her problem, and to make them understand that by seeking proper treatment, most of these symptoms can be resolved and they need not continue to suffer or live in embarrassment. In fact, persons suffering from major depression disorder should be encouraged to share their feelings and fears with family and friends so that they can stop repressing and suppressing their emotions, which also contributes to further depression.

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Useful Depression Resources