10 Signs That Tell How Depression Feels Like

 

Many times people get confused between sadness and depression. They are unable to decide whether they are sad or actually depressed maybe because they do not know how depression feels like. Although symptoms may vary among patients, but key signs will generally be evident enough to ensure the presence of illness.

How depression feels like to me

There were certain days when I felt normal. I planned my day ahead, followed a healthy routine. I watched most of the latest Netflix series and wrote long posts regarding the latest tv shows.

But then there were many other days. These were those days when I found myself miserable. I had no inner motivation to get up from my bed or get ready. I got easily irritated with my kids, shouted my lungs out, and shushed them.

Sometimes, I felt sleepy after a good night’s sleep. I spent many days in bed, sleeping, lying and staring at nowhere. Sometimes, there were days when I had sleepless nights. My heart started sinking with the fall of night.

I indulged in binge eating, completely forgot my eating threshold. I felt miserable,  sitting alone, staring at nowhere, watching tv without understanding anything at all. My all physiological tests were negative; still, I had body pains. I wanted to practice yoga or indulge in physical activity, but my inner zeal was at bay.

Something was pulling me inside. I knew I was not happy; I knew that I was sad. But it was depression that I was not aware of. Like many of my readers, I was just living with it.

The problem lies with the less amount of information floating on public forums. Information that is written in a complex manner. People know and understand depression but do not know how depression feels like. Most web-based information is either written from a doctor’s perspective or uses complex jargon. But what about those people who actually experience it? Who can tell how exactly depression feels like?

More on how depression feels like….

Did I tell you that there were days when I did not like to brush my teeth? Or I burst into tears when others were laughing or having good times. I used to find my loved one’s chats hollow.

I used to sit quietly among people. Holidays, vacations, new clothes, or luxuries stopped making me happy. Depression was a part of mine now, and I started having mild headaches.

Depressing makes you feel like you had led a long life, and now there is nothing more important in life except waiting for my dead end. The funny part was  I was so miserable that  I just wanted to forget the idea of incarnation.

Without any specific reason, I was sad. Depression was like that network ad dog who kept me following everywhere or It was like that record that was playing on loop.

I stopped combing my hair. I was comfortable in my dirty nightclothes. I was going through such a rough patch that if I found any other depression patient who had a suicidal thought, I might have companied them.

So till now, I quoted my own personal log, how I felt during my depressive episodes or how depression feels like. But now, let’s me highlight ten signs of depression, yes, but in a simple manner.

Symptoms of Depression

• Sadness

Depression is beyond sadness. One can get sad once or twice. But when it becomes routine, or there is no reason for sadness, then one should understand that they are going through depression.

Reasons that caused you happiness before become irrelevant. Sudden, a blanket of sadness becomes thicker and thicker than even becomes a part of your daily life.

• Change in Appetite

There is the myth that for people who suffer from depression, their appetite drops. Depression can affect appetite either way. Some people feel a drop in their hunger, whereas few people experience a rise in appetite. But one thing is clear that there will be a change in appetite.

• Change in Sleeping patterns

People who tell you that during depression sleep suffers; that is also incorrect. Like appetite, our sleeping pattern to gets changed. Some people deprive of sleep, whereas some may get excess sleep. So, it again depends on physiologies that how one’s body may respond to depression.

Read about the remedy of panic attacks

• Irritability

People who suffer from depression can acknowledge that they feel extremely irritable at times. Small things that did not bother them before suddenly become important. People become touchy about things, snap-on minor issues or demonstrate sudden outbursts with displeasure.

• Low energy

Like I gave my example, a person with depression can feel less energy and find it challenging to carry day to day routine forward.  They may find it hard to keep pace with the requirements of routine life.

• Neglected self-care

Self-care like brushing, showering or combing all may get affected. Many females stop taking beauty treatments like facials or waxing.  Men stop hair dyeing or taking haircuts.

• Low Self Esteem

People who suffer from depression experience low self-esteem. They may find their self-worth declining – socially or emotionally both. Relations feel like a burden, and a deep feeling of self-pity arises.

• Avoiding Social Contact

People like to isolate themself from social gatherings. Loneliness and socially aloofness becomes a regular feature of their personality.

In my case, I started avoiding social events and found it unimportant to give excuses too, because, at that time, reasons were irrelevant to me.

• Self Harm tendencies

Often, patients do self-harm by taking unprescribed medicines, consuming alcohol, or indulging in self-harm activity. This self-harm can or can not be with the intention of suicide.

• Suicidal thoughts

Yes, people suffering from depression get suicidal thoughts too. And this is alarming. If you or any person gets suicidal thoughts, then they immediately need to consult with a psychiatrist.

Summing Up

The above behavioural signs will give you a clear idea how depression feels like. Depression is like a tunnel that is filled with darkness and dingy smells, but proper treatment is that light at the end that opens doors of happiness. Timely consultation with a clinical psychiatrist can save you from downfalls. For you or your dear ones, it may be a phase of sadness, but let your doctor decide it.