Depression Symptoms - Part 1

For those who are learning a bit about clinical aspects through these posts, perhaps you've become familiar with the concepts of symptoms and disorders. To diagnose a disorder, you need to have a certain number of symptoms for a specific period under certain conditions. Before discussing Major Depression and Persistent Depression, let's explore the symptoms of depression.

The first symptom is a depressed mood. This doesn't help us much: saying, "you have depression if you have a depressed mood" is certainly circular. We've described mood as a state of mind, the persistent feeling in a certain way. Having a depressed mood means feeling persistently sad, desperate, discouraged, or down.

The second symptom is a loss of interest or pleasure in many or all activities. In our lives, there are things we enjoy doing, such as reading, watching TV, playing music, or engaging in sports. Experiencing a loss of interest or pleasure means that nothing that usually brings us joy or serenity is enjoyable anymore. As a consequence, one loses those pleasant social interactions often generated by our hobbies, leading to isolation.

A significant changing in weight and/or appetite. Some people may struggle to eat, while others are strongly attracted to certain foods (often high in calories). The result is a significant increase or decrease in weight.

Sleep disturbance. Here's a symptom that often worries more than others. It makes us think of the stereotype of a person with depression, someone who is always awake brooding or someone who sleeps "all" day.

Psychomotor disturbance. This complicated expression includes two relatively simple concepts:

• Agitation or
• Slowed movements or speech.

Sources:

- American Psychiatric Association (2013) - Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.).
- Bernhill, J. W. (2014) - DSM-5 Clinical Cases.

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