The Warning Signs of Depression

“Sitting in a dark room crying all day is not always the case”

Depression is a mental health disorder that affects many lives in various ways.  Most of us, when we think of depression, we have the mental picture of a person who is crying all the time, hopeless about life, and sitting in a dark room all day. They are negative about everything, and are completely “down” with life in general.

I am not saying that depression never appears this way, but I am saying this scenario is never 100% of the case. Believe it or not, many of us are unknowingly battling depression. What’s even scarier is a lot of us never know it because we don’t recognize the warning signs.

“Depression Can be Sneaky”

It’s true, depression can be very sneaky. There are subtle signs that begin to show up way before you end up sitting in the dark room crying all day. I am by no means picking fun at this scenario, but I want to highlight that if you have reached this point, then the warning signs were probably there well before.

“How does depression begin?”

Depression can begin at any point in our lives, and for many reasons. Some triggering events could be recently losing a loved one, suffering a devastating end to a relationship, working a job you hate, or feeling unsuccessful and unfulfilled. Maybe you thought you would be much further along in achieving your career goals, and you’ve experienced some unexpected setbacks that have left you feeling hopeless. If you’re not able to adjust well to your current life situation, depression can creep in the back door.

“So, what are the “Warning Signs”?”

.   Loss of daily motivation for usual activities

This does not mean that you sit in a room all day crying, but it does mean that activities that you typically enjoy are no longer appealing to you. This could be a loss of interest in your hobbies, losing motivation to finish school, struggling at work, or having a dirty and cluttered home that you usually keep organized.

.    Withdrawal from loved ones

This is as simple as a decrease in daily communication with your spouse or significant other, skipping family and social get togethers to stay at home, or not answering the phone when family or friends are trying to connect. 

.     An Increase in Pessimistic or Negative Thoughts

You’ve noticed that your outlook on life has begun to sound kind of sour. Instead of being the one who’s excited about the future, you sound as if there’s no point in hoping for anything. Maybe goals you were working to achieve, now seem to be unattainable. There’s a big chance too that friends and family have noticed and have begun to point this out to you. Don’t ignore this tell-tale sign of depression.

.     Being aggravated by “little” things

Have you noticed your patience running a little extra thin lately? Does every “little” thing seem to send you over the edge emotionally? In other words, situations in the past that wouldn’t ruffle your feathers, now has you blowing your gasket in anger, or breaking down in tears. These are symptoms of a deeper issue that could very well be depression. 

.     Trouble Sleeping, or beginning to sleep too much

Even though this is a criterion that mental health professionals use to diagnose depression, so many people ignore this symptom and brush it off as having too much on their mind, or being extra tired from working a lot.

Now, it’s a possibility that these scenarios could be the case, however, if this is something that you have been experiencing for more than a month, then it may be time to take a closer examination of the possible cause.

.     Drinking more alcohol than usual

This is not your typical social drinking, or glass of wine in the evening after an exhausting day of work. If you have noticed, or a loved one has pointed out to you, that you have begun to drink more lately, please pay attention to this warning sign. Drinking more means instead of having a glass of wine in the evening, you now have an entire bottle.

This means that you find yourself drinking quite a bit after work every day of the week. This also means you find yourself pouring an alcoholic beverage at odd times of the day, such as when you wake up in the morning. You are beginning to believe that you need the alcohol to deal with making it through the day.

This symptom could be the beginning stages of something more serious, such as depression and should not be ignored. Please seek professional assistance from a medical doctor and a substance abuse professional if you are beginning to struggle with alcohol consumption.

“So, what you can do?”

This list was short, and should never be used as a complete list of all the warning signs of depression. This list was really meant to alert you about “common” symptoms you may not have noticed that are a clear indicator of depression. The sooner you understand your symptoms and their cause, the sooner you can do something about it, such as contact a mental health professional to help get you back on track.

Please believe that a therapist can be a wonderful tool in assisting you with depression. Having someone to talk to is important for EVERYONE.

Contact a therapist today if any of the information provided here about depression resonates with you. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.

Dr. Karen Barbee

Until next time, take care of yourself. 

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