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Depression or major depressive disorder is one of the world’s most common mental health conditions. In the US alone, about 6.7% of adults deal with depression – that’s around 16 million people. More so, records from the World Health Organization WHO shows that over 270 million people around the globe live in depression.
While medical organizations recognize depression as a major mental health condition plaguing society, there are not a lot of recorded patients or treatments ongoing for people battling depression. For some people, it may be that they aren’t away from available treatment, or have access to treatment altogether. However, most people who deal with depression don’t get medical attention because they’re unaware of the underlying problem they’re facing.
Diagnosis of depression is perhaps one of the trickiest exercises – most patients don’t get to know their problem till the situation becomes critical. More so, psychiatrists may not get to detect the issue especially if the patient doesn’t go for help. Meanwhile, that’s not to say depression is an undetectable illness; there are various ways one spot signs of depression and seek help from qualified medical personnel.
- Consistent lack of focus
We often characterize millennials and Gen-Zs as the generation breeding people with low attention spans. However, for people living with major depressive disorder, the degree of lack of concentration is often heightened. This usually gets to a level where the individual finds it difficult to perform simple daily tasks which a regular person won’t have any issue doing.
- Sleep disorder
Sleep disorder goes both ways – having too much is as bad as having too little. Despite the common misconception that you can’t get too much sleep, you should know that any form of sleeping disorder can lead to mood fluctuations which often times degenerates into major depressive disorder. Meanwhile, it’s important that you keep in mind that sleep disorders like insomnia do not lead to depression.
- Suicidal thoughts
Having suicidal thoughts is a giveaway that depression is becoming an issue; perhaps the easiest way to spot depression – is you can self-diagnose, or notice the habit in another person. While that’s the case, suicidal thoughts is also linked with frequent moodiness; most times, moodiness and irritability are the hallmarks of a person with suicidal thoughts.
- Eating disorders/change in appetite
Our eating habits can be a giveaway to identifying the existence of depression. For some people, it’s a significant decrease in appetite, and for others, it causes them to eat more. More so, any drastic change in apatite doesn’t depict healthy living. Excessive weight gain or weight loss aren’t great characteristics of a healthy individual.
- The feeling of low self-esteem
This symptom is often prevalent in cases where depression has taken its toll on the individual. They experience a sense of worthlessness, having the mindset that they’re below par compared to the next individual. Frustration ultimately gets involved; it becomes the only way to express disappointment in themselves.
There are only a handful of signs one can use to self-diagnose depression in themselves or in others. Due to depression not being a mental illness that is always evident in the life of patients, it sometimes might be challenging to get an accurate diagnosis if you’re not a qualified psychiatrist. Depression or major depressive disorder is one of the world’s most common mental health conditions. In the US alone, about 6.7% of adults deal with depression – that’s around 16 million people. More so, records from the World Health Organization WHO shows that over 270 million people around the globe live in depression.
While medical organizations recognize depression as a major mental health condition plaguing society, there are not a lot of recorded patients or treatments ongoing for people battling depression. For some people, it may be that they aren’t away from available treatment, or have access to treatment altogether. However, most people who deal with depression don’t get medical attention because they’re unaware of the underlying problem they’re facing.
Diagnosis of depression is perhaps one of the trickiest exercises – most patients don’t get to know their problem till the situation becomes critical. More so, psychiatrists may not get to detect the issue especially if the patient doesn’t go for help. Meanwhile, that’s not to say depression is an undetectable illness; there are various ways one spot signs of depression and seek help from qualified medical personnel.
- Consistent lack of focus
We often characterize millennials and Gen-Zs as the generation breeding people with low attention spans. However, for people living with major depressive disorder, the degree of lack of concentration is often heightened. This usually gets to a level where the individual finds it difficult to perform simple daily tasks which a regular person won’t have any issue doing.
- Sleep disorder
Sleep disorder goes both ways – having too much is as bad as having too little. Despite the common misconception that you can’t get too much sleep, you should know that any form of sleeping disorder can lead to mood fluctuations which often times degenerates into major depressive disorder. Meanwhile, it’s important that you keep in mind that sleep disorders like insomnia do not lead to depression.
- Suicidal thoughts
Having suicidal thoughts is a giveaway that depression is becoming an issue; perhaps the easiest way to spot depression – is you can self-diagnose, or notice the habit in another person. While that’s the case, suicidal thoughts is also linked with frequent moodiness; most times, moodiness and irritability are the hallmarks of a person with suicidal thoughts.
- Eating disorders/change in appetite
Our eating habits can be a giveaway to identifying the existence of depression. For some people, it’s a significant decrease in appetite, and for others, it causes them to eat more. More so, any drastic change in apatite doesn’t depict healthy living. Excessive weight gain or weight loss aren’t great characteristics of a healthy individual.
- The feeling of low self-esteem
This symptom is often prevalent in cases where depression has taken its toll on the individual. They experience a sense of worthlessness, having the mindset that they’re below par compared to the next individual. Frustration ultimately gets involved; it becomes the only way to express disappointment in themselves.
There are only a handful of signs one can use to self-diagnose depression in themselves or in others. Due to depression not being a mental illness that is always evident in the life of patients, it sometimes might be challenging to get an accurate diagnosis if you’re not a qualified psychiatrist.
