What is Depression?

Depression isn’t just feeling sad or down. It can affect every aspect of your life when it hits. Learn more about what depression is and how it looks like.

What is Depression?

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a serious illness that can debilitate a person and affect their daily living. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is characterized by the following symptoms.

Persistent Sadness

Persistent feelings of sadness, emptiness, or hopelessness are the key symptoms of MDD. Sadness is a normal emotion, but oftentimes sadness passes. This is a sadness that doesn’t lift and can feel relentless at times. One thing to ask yourself is do you feel sad most of the day? And how often? Is it nearly every day?

Decreased Pleasure

One of the hallmarks of MDD is that you lose interest and pleasure in activities that you used to enjoy. Say that you love painting and regularly paint which makes you feel good. If you are struggling with MDD, you might not enjoy painting anymore, lose interest, and stop painting altogether. If you are a social butterfly and love being around people and going out, maybe you stop enjoying company, and stop reaching out to others and find yourself isolating from others. Think of the things you love to do when you feel well? Do you still do them? Do you still enjoy them?

Feelings of Worthlessness or Guilt

Feeling worthless and guilty are other tough emotions that come with MDD. Having feelings of not being worthy of help or happiness, or having guilty feelings of letting people down or being a disappointment to others that feel overwhelming, can be a sign of MDD. It is important to note that these feelings of worthlessness and guilt are intense and excessive compared to the actual situation. Are you overwhelmed by feelings of worthlessness or guilt?

Low Energy

Feeling like you have lost energy, motivation and constant fatigue is another sign. Sometimes people have difficulty completing simple tasks, like even just getting out of bed feels like a lot or just feeding yourself or brushing your teeth. Do you feel tired and unmotivated all the time?

Restlessness or Slow Movements

If you notice that you can’t relax, that could be another sign. Maybe you can’t sit down or are fidgety and have to keep moving. On the flip side maybe you feel like you are moving very slow and seem to feel like you are walking through cement. Do you feel like you cannot relax or that you are moving too slow that usual?

Difficulties Concentrating

MDD can make it difficult to focus, concentrate and can affect memory. Sometimes even making the smallest decisions can be overwhelming. For example, deciding what you want to eat for breakfast can feel daunting. Or just having difficulties making simple decisions at work or studying or reading might be hard to do as well. Are you having difficulty concentrating, remembering or making decisions?

Appetite Weight Changes

Significant changes in weight and appetite is important to note. Are you more or less hungry? Maybe you have stopped eating more than usual, causing some weight loss. Maybe you are eating more than usual causing some weight gain. Have you had any changes in appetite and weight?

Difficulties with Sleep

Thinking about your sleep patterns is important. How many hours of sleep are you getting each night? Are you having difficulty sleeping and find it hard to stay asleep? Quality of sleep is also important. You might struggle with falling asleep, or waking up in the middle of the night several times. Or you might sleep too much at night and also sleep through the day. Sometimes it's hard to stay awake. Are you sleeping more or less than usual?

Suicidal Thoughts

Ask yourself this tough question. Suicidal thoughts are serious no matter what. Some thoughts can sound more passive like not wanting to wake up in the morning, wishing something would happen where you weren’t alive anymore, or they can be more direct where you are having thoughts of how you would want die and what you would do to kill yourself. If you are having thoughts of suicide go to the nearest hospital, contact the suicide hotline by calling 988 or call 911. Are you having any thoughts of death or suicide?

MDD is categorized in different levels of severity: mild, moderate and severe. Based on the DSM, symptoms must be present for at least 2 weeks and 5 symptoms should be present nearly every day. It’s important that you seek professional help if you are struggling with these symptoms so a therapist can assess your depression and its severity. MDD can be complex and it's important to seek help for it.