Depression Symptoms – 9 Signs to Increase your Awareness
A little over a month ago a life-long friend of mine committed suicide.
I met this special and beautiful being when we were only 14 years old and spoke to one another every other day – or more. She was more than a friend. She was my soul sister. A tribe member. A Kindred spirit.
Her story is as long as her life and unfortunately, she was dealt a hand that many of us would call unfair.
She was the kind of person who impacted the world. Changed it. Made it a better place. Helped others. The epitome of love. And so exceedingly kind and compassionate.
But she was seriously ill and lived in an amount of pain that I honestly believe was way beyond any of our comprehension.
So, even though her death was not a complete surprise, it did still come as a complete and utter shock to all of us.
I think the main reason being that none of us could actually foresee a life lived without her in it. The world was just never going to be the same again.
Depression Symptoms
The reason for this article is because life is happening constantly, and we will always find ourselves in positions of valleys and peaks. There is a circular motion to our world – birth, death, life, non-existence and on it goes. And in these modern and busy times, depression symptoms appear way more regularly than we think it does.
Events will take place that make us feel ecstatic and sad. Up and down. This is normal. It is just the process of our beautiful lives.
However, a prolonged amount of time that we feel down or sad is not normal or healthy. Our brain releases chemicals when we are under stress, anxiety and sadness to help us cope in the moment. A problem occurs when the brain releases too much over an extended period of time because it’s meant to only happen in short bursts occasionally.
When those chemicals build up because they’re firing every day, it causes a chemical imbalance that we know as Depression.
It’s okay to be sad.
It okay to grieve.
But, we have to learn not to cling onto past events that we no longer have any control over. My husband calls it ‘rolling out our sleeping bags and camping by the fire’. We must acknowledge the event, name our emotions, accept what is and then forge forward by excusing ourselves from the fire, rolling our sleeping bag back up and leaving. In essence, this means navigating and forging a new path for us.
Yes, life may have changed. But we can ask ourselves, “what can I learn from this experience?” View everything as a third person and see how you can be better so that you put the best version of yourself out there in our world.
Our place on this planet is one of being in service of one another.
Become enough to ask for and take help if / when you need it. We can be so stubborn and / or prideful that we don’t want to show anyone that we crack.
You are human.
Fallible.
Capable of cracking and even breaking.
We are meant to be a part of a tribe. And why? So that all members can contribute and pick up any slack where and when it’s needed.
There are so many routes available to help you cope with any depression. Chemical, Homeopathic, Therapy etc. The is no reason why we can’t just get healthy and better.
Sadly, we also can’t jump into the heads of depressed ones and see their thoughts because one of the biggest signs of depression is self-harm / suicidal thoughts. Or regular thoughts of death in general. But. you can use the below list to help yourself become aware of depression.
I received this list from my own personal Medical Doctor.
Any score of 5 and below is apparently our normal sadness process.
However, any score of 6 and up over an extended period of time is diagnosed as clinical depression.
Signs of Clinical Depression Symptoms
- Lack of energy / Tiredness
- Lack / Loss of interest
- Sleep pattern disturbance
- Irritable / Impatient
- Highly emotional
- Appetite / weight fluctuations
- Difficulty concentrating or restlessness
- Withdrawal
- Short-term memory loss
I hope that this helps you and if you feel you’d like to connect with me, please contact us.
