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Depression Symptoms: Possibly a Real Medical Illness

Maybe stress isn�t your problem but you wonder if you are depressed. You just can�t seem to get enthusiastic about anything. Every little job

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around the house is too much effort, and you don�t want to go to see your doctor. You are convinced in your own mind that you are depressed, but are also scared that the doctor will tell you there is nothing wrong with you.

What are some of the symptoms to look of for in a depressed person?

A change in their eating habits � we have already looked at that is some detail.
A lack of energy to do anything.
Being someone who had a passion for something and then no longer having any interest in it. It could be a sport or a hobby but there is an obvious change of attitude.
A change in a person�s sleeping pattern.
The person feels that they are unworthy of any love or affection
A person can feel there is nothing worth living for. They have lost hope in everything.
A depressed person will feel guilty even though they have done nothing wrong.
They will not be able to make any decisions clearly. They will move from one position to another, and see nothing wrong in their thinking.
A time to make sure that a depressed person gets medical help fast is when they feel suicidal.
A depressed person will want to be by themselves all the time. But in their depression they won�t want people to leave them alone.

Don�t think about trying to diagnose someone who might be depressed. They need to get medical help, but it is worth looking at the symptoms to see if they are displaying any of them. Also to look at the difference between whether a person is stressed out by their circumstances, and if their symptoms will disappear as the circumstances change.

A person might be under stress with their job. Their boss wants to see completion on a job by a certain time, and juggling hours with the rest of their life has added stress. They might be showing some signs of depression, but once the job is completed the symptoms also disappear. But a depressed person, the symptoms might become worse with the stress, but they are not likely to disappear when the stress goes. The depression might become less but it will still be there and you will see it coming to the front of their lives again and again. Again medical care is needed and the person should speak to their doctor and get the treatment that is available to help them.

The other reason for making sure you talk to a doctor is that some of these symptoms could come from other illnesses. If that is the case then it would be necessary for your doctor to be able to diagnose from all your symptoms. It might be depression or it might be something else. Either way, the doctor is the only one who can diagnose and prescribe the relevant medical treatment for you.

Depression is a real medical illness. Gone are the days where people didn�t understand what it meant, and then put other feelings of guilt on the person. If you are depressed, then it is no different than having any other medical illness.

There are different degrees of illness and yet nobody thinks in those terms when deciding to go and see their doctor. You might have flu and you contact your doctor for some antibiotics. Or you might have a terminal illness which again you contact your doctor for.

People wouldn�t suggest that you were wrong to contact your doctor for tablets when you had the flu, because the doctor is only concerned about life threatening illnesses. The same should be true with depression. If a person is depressed then they should see their doctor, there is no difference.

When you have seen your doctor about your symptoms, they will diagnose what is wrong. Once you have that information you will then need to make choices about the treatment you are going to have.

It might be suggested that you take some drugs for a short time, or even long term. Don�t be concerned by that, until you have started to take them, then you won�t know how beneficial it could be for you.

You might find you want to consult with a psychologist because you feel you want to be able to talk about what is happening and the feelings you have. As the depressed person talks about their thoughts and feelings a better picture can be seen of the way they are thinking and at times it can also give the solution to their depression.

Regardless of the treatment that is being offered a person should always look on it as a positive way to help them. It might be that treatment might be needed for a very long time, but nobody should stop their treatment without their doctor�s advice.

Note: Some statements in this article may not be approved by the FDA. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as professional medical advice.

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