MENTAL SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION

INTRODUCTION

                    As we have already talked about how mental illness changes your daily routine, we saw how people in depression experienced major changes in physical health such as changes in appetite or sleep routine. We also saw people changed their social interaction. But these are visible changes, one can see them, feel the difference and seek some medical or non-medical help! But apart from physical and social changes, there are more serious changes one feels in depression, mentally. These are very difficult to get recognized and cured by someone. According to some health websites, books, and my personal experiences, there are a few most common symptoms are seen. Let's see them in detail:

ANXIETY

                  Up to a specific limit, we all feel basic anxiety in our life. In depression. Daily anxiety is normal. It's kind of acts like motivation to you to work in a better way. In depression,  anxiety works at its peak! Anxiety is more intense and long-lasting here! Daily worry doesn't affect you all day, it exists for a particular instance and then we move on!

                     In depression, anxiety hammers you all day and night. It doesn't act as motivation anymore! It doesn't let you focus on your work and keep making you think about consequences. Because of this, you cannot enjoy your work freely. It takes away the ease of doing or the joy of doing everything. Mostly that's the reason, depressed people feel lack of interest in everything, including the things they like!  So it includes:

1) worrying about consequences 

2) lack of interest in everything 

3) lack of focus on work

FEAR

                    In depression, people get badly scared of something. This fear can be of any activity, situation, or consequence! Just because of fear of something unexpected will happen to them, they just don't step into it. People skip a lot of new things, stop trying, stop exploring things. In such a way they kind of pamper their fears which further leads to a fear-worry loop!

1) fear of a particular activity, situation, or consequence  

2) stop getting into new things

FEAR-WORRY LOOP

                    It is a pattern I felt, at the time of my mental illness. Fear and worry go hand in hand. Once anyone of them comes into your life, gonna bring another one! Worry brings fear, and fear brings more fear, and the more you are scared, the more you gonna worry about it! So it's a loop, it's a labyrinth. And it will keep going till you leave both of them! This loop takes away the peace of your life, sleep, and relief! This is the reason people lose their healthy sleep routine in depression.

PANIC ATTACKS

                   This is one more side effect of fear: panic attacks. Panic attacks are one of the signs of depression that reflects through the body. Panic attacks consist of:

1) Extreme nervousness 

2) Excessive sweating 

3) Excessive rise in heartbreaks 

4) Shortness of breath 

5) Shaking hand and legs 

6) Cracking of voice

                      These things sound very normal, so many of us feel them while public talking, but that's different, expected. Depressed people feel such things daily, during informal greetings as well, even when they are with close people or even alone!

EMOTIONAL OUTBURST

                      Recognizing depression while having it is the most difficult thing! It's a very complex process. The signs and symptoms you are familiar with but their unexpected pattern and extreme levels you are not familiar with, rather we are not prepared! So it creates huge confusion. It's like all the things are hammering you at the same time and you are underprepared! It creates trauma in one's mind about what exactly they are going through! If you ask any depressed person about the causes of their mental illness, they cannot point at one thing and say it surely! And that's the specialty of depression! So since one cannot know the cause, one cannot find a cure for it! So even if one wants to come out of it, one cannot! It makes one tired. Due to this, one tries random solutions one finds hope from! So one just runs in random directions which makes one emotionally weaker, helpless, and restless! So just to get off that trauma, depressed people experience such emotional outbursts. It includes:

1) unexpectedly crying for no reason 

2) unexpectedly laughing at small things 

3) Mood swings 

4) Excessive anger on small things 

5) Being extremely private

6) try to be socialized suddenly 

CONCLUSION

                   So these are some most common signs and symptoms of depression. We have to understand the depth of mental illness. We should respect each other's space and help each other to feel better and healthy! This is how one can be more aware of your mental health status. And we all have to be conscious about our mental health as much as we are conscious about our physical health! Our mind is an integral part of our health. So take care of your mind, take care of your body, take care of yourself! Let's take a step towards self-mental health awareness, let's take a step towards peace, together! It's just depression, give it a way to get out of your head. Have faith, have patience. This shall too pass! 

EXPRESS | ENCOURAGE | EMPOWER