Are You at Risk for Depression?

The words ok, fine, good; awesome would have been the commonest answers, for how are you? These might sound simple, but we may not know the underlying meaning.

Feeling low and getting back to the normal is a natural process. But prolonged sadness is something which shouldn’t be taken lightly. Some individuals are at higher risk for developing depression when compared to others.

Identify the signs of depression…

If you want to know whether you are at the risk of depression or not. Here are the common signs of depression that you can check for:

• Feeling low or sad.
• Loss of interest in pleasure in activities- not enjoying the activities once you used to love.
• Change in appetite, weight gain or loss unrelated to your diet.
• Sleep- you can experience the changes in the sleeping patterns like disturbed sleep, sleeping too much.
• Lowered speech and movements- which can also be observed by others.
• Feeling fatigue or loss of energy most of the time.
• You might feel unworthy, useless, guilty or hopeless.
• Difficulty in paying attention, thinking, decisions making.
• Some people also get the thoughts of self-harming, thoughts of death or may even suicide.

And the most important thing of all, these symptoms may last at least for two weeks for the diagnosis of depression. There are exceptions for medical conditions, like thyroid issues, brain tumor or vitamin deficiency, which mimic the symptoms of depression and can be excluded.

Few facts about Depression:

• In any given year, Depression affects an estimated one in 15 adults (6.7%).
• One in six people (16.6%) will experience depression at some point in their life.
• Depression can strike at any time, but on average, first appears during the late teens to mid-20s.
• Women are more likely to experience depression than men. Some researchers show that one-third of women will experience a major depressive episode in their lifetime.

If you are aware of the above mentioned alarming signs, it would be really be helpful in preparing yourself in coping with depression and stress in a better way. If you think that you cannot fight all alone then it is vital you do seek the help of your family and friends and if things go beyond get an help from medical professionals, and discuss the possible courses of treatment to address your condition.

If the above tips don’t help or if in case you need additional guidance, to address your concern, then seek the right kind of help from our professionals by making an appointment call right away at +91 96111 94949.