Signs of Clinical Depression - Common Symptoms

What are some signs of clinical depression?

Clinical depression does not refer to a specific type of depression, per se, but rather more toward the state or severity of the condition. There are several forms of clinical depression, such as dysthymia and bipolar disorder.

Now, irrespective of the form of depression, some of the common symptoms of clinical depression can be broadly classified into physiological and psychological symptoms.

Physiological clinical depression symptoms include:

• Inability to sleep at night or insomnia is one of the first symptoms of clinical depression. Restlessness and constant thoughts of hopelessness plague people suffering from depression and affect their sleep pattern, resulting in fatigue and tiredness.
  
  
• Lack of appetite is another glaring symptom of people suffering from clinical depression. This is followed by weight loss and other physical problems.
  
  
• Hypochondria or complaints of physical ailments without any proper cause are also symptoms of clinical depression. Depressed people often complain of aches and pains that do not have any underlying cause when tested and which also do not respond to treatment.
  
  

The psychological warning signs of clinical depression include:

• Feeling sad, hopeless, and worthless for the most part accompanied by uncontrollable crying spells.
  
  
• Inability to get over feelings of guilt, shame and disgust over mistakes committed or traumatic experiences faced in the past.
  
  
• Lack of interest in day-to-day activities, personal hygiene, socializing, hobbies, and sex.
  
  
• Hypersensitive and takes offence at stray remarks made by friends and family.
  
  
• Highly irritable and gets emotional for small and trivial issues.
  
  
• Finds it very difficult to take a stand, make decisions, concentrate or focus on tasks.
  
  
• Talks about suicide and ending one’s very frequently.
  
  

These are some of the major symptoms that are commonly experienced by patients suffering from various forms of clinical depression. If more than 70% of these symptoms and signs of clinical depression, both physiological and psychological, exist for over two weeks, it is important to seek professional help.

Once affected persons are tested and diagnosed, the nature or type of clinical depression is then established. This will help physicians and therapists to arrive at appropriate treatment plans to be immediately executed. Once treatment has commenced, most of the physiological symptoms will be reduced, followed by the psychological symptoms.

It is also extremely important for friends and family to provide support and care to persons afflicted by the symptoms and signs of clinical depression during the treatment process, partly because incomplete treatment is ineffective and chances of relapse are extremely high. And, of course, proper love, care and support will themselves go a long way toward aiding recovery from depression.

If persons experience episodes of depression in close proximity, it is likely that they will seriously contemplate suicide, and sometimes they do succeed. Therefore, it is best not to take chances and ensure that all treatment modalities are duly followed.

It also helps if depressed persons can maintain a journal or roster recording the sequence of events in his or her life, so that he or she can spot certain triggers which cause depression. This will help them overcome these challenges and also be wary of the various issues that could cause depression in future.

Here, please note our stand - we feel that drug medications for any form of depression should only be used as a last resort, as they come with many side effects, including serious and even fatal ones.

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