There always seem to be many people in the world who just feel like they’re having a rough time of it recently, or may claim they’re “going through a rough patch,” who are actually quite depressed in a very real sense.
Talk to professional psychologists in Collingwood and other places and you’ll quickly learn that the symptoms of depression are sometimes best described as “sneaky” in that there’s a fair chance that we might be suffering from it and not even know it.
If you’re wondering if there’s something bigger behind your recent run of bad moods, or elevated feelings of worry or anxiety recently, then here are some signs that what you’re dealing with might be depression:
1. More and More of Your Day is Filled with Anxiety
It’s perhaps not an unusual thing to experience some periods of anxiety throughout the day; isolated moments or isolated periods of time prompted by some unexpected event, for instance. What’s less typical is when greater and greater amounts of your day are dominated by that same crushing feeling.
Anxiety weighs down on you and starts to impact your other behaviour, such as sleep and how you spend your free time (see the next 2 points for more). It’s a common bed-fellow of depression, too, so if you feel that anxiety is becoming your normal or “default” emotional setting, then you might be straying into a very real depression.
2. You Aren’t Sleeping Well
If the above is happening to you, and anxiety starts to take over, one noticeable impact is that it will disrupt your daily sleep and work patterns. You can get locked into a vicious cycle of anxiety- and depression-induced insomnia, which then makes you tired at times you should be working, and can begin to impact your professional performance.
Not all insomnia is caused by anxiety and depression, however, so don’t panic. There’s no need to automatically link this problem directly with depression.
3. How Would You Like to Spend an Afternoon Doing Your Favourite Hobby?
When experiencing depression, hobbies and pastimes that you previously loved and would relish an afternoon of doing suddenly feel less appealing to you. When you’re in a happy mood, these activities are things that you look forward to during your free time. Depression removes that sense of excitement about them and leaves you feeling rather empty and devoid of interest in anything that you had previously thought meaningful and worth pursuing.
4. Your Self-Esteem is Suffering
Do you find that you’re putting yourself in longer and longer periods of isolation? Do you avoid going to parties with friends, for instance, because you’re worried that you look bad, or that people don’t like you? Do you find that you are thinking less of yourself in general? How would you rate the way that you’ve treated your body and soul over the past few weeks or months?
Depression is a gateway to all kinds of soul-crushing problems and issues with self-esteem. You’ll think less of yourself, and imagine that others do as well, and this is the start of the vicious cycle of isolation. Cutting yourself off from your friends for a day or two to take some quality “me” time or do something you really love isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when it becomes a protracted period and is coupled with worsening self-esteem, you might be dealing with something more serious.
5. Have Your Thoughts Been Turning to Death or Suicide Recently?
Finally, at the darker end of the spectrum of depression lies the potential for more morbid thoughts of death in general, and even an act of suicide. The peculiar thing is that these might not seem strange to you as you think them, but they are yet another key sign of depression, and that you might need to reach out and try and get some more help. Never be afraid to reach out!
