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Signs, Symptoms, and Causes

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1. What Is Depression?
2. What Causes Depression?
3. How Do I Know If I’m Depressed?
4. How Can My Depression Be Treated?

Depression, the most common mental health problem in the United States, can be hard to talk about it. This newsletter describes the symptoms of depression and includes information about about therapy and medicine for treating depression. You might be starting one or both of these treatments. This information may help you talk to your doctor or therapist.

1. What Is Depression?

Depression is an illness. When you feel sad and have gloomy or negative thoughts for a long time, you might be depressed. These thoughts make it hard to feel good about yourself. You can have trouble with your daily work. When you’re depressed, you may have problems with your family, friends, or coworkers.

There are different kinds of depression, but they all have the same main symptoms. When you talk to your doctor or therapist, tell him or her how you’ve been feeling. Your doctor will know what kind of depression you have.

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2. What Causes Depression?

There are different causes for depression. Some common causes are:

• Stressful events like the death of someone you love, a divorce, or problems at work. Everyone feels sad when these things happen. Feeling sad for a long time could be depression.
• Psychological problems. These are problems with other people or upsetting situations. It can be hard to talk to other people or to get close to them. You can get depressed if you have trouble showing anger.
• Family members with depression. You can inherit depression.
• Some medicines, drugs, or alcohol problems. The doctor will decide if any prescription medicines can be causing depression. Using or withdrawing from alcohol or drugs can cause depression.

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3. How Do I Know If I’m Depressed?

People don’t feel depression in the same way. Some people have a lot of very bad symptoms. Other people have just a few symptoms. We all feel sad and have negative thoughts sometimes. You might be depressed if you feel sad and have negative thoughts almost all the time and nothing seems to help you feel better.

What are Some of the Symptoms of Depression?

• Depressed mood. Depressed people feel very sad and hopeless. They might feel like giving up, cry a lot, feel empty, or have no feelings. Some people may become irritable or angry.
• Less interest or pleasure in activities. Many depressed people don’t like the activities they used to enjoy. They don’t want to be with other people. They might lose interest in sex. They might not take care of how they dress or look. They might not keep themselves clean.
• Problems sleeping. Some depressed people have trouble falling asleep. Other people can’t sleep all through the night or wake up too early in the morning. Some people sleep a lot.
• Feeling tired. Even with enough sleep, some depressed people feel tired all the time. Because they feel tired, they don’t have much energy.
• Feeling nervous or slowed-down. Some people feel nervous or restless because of depression. Other people slow down.
• Feeling guilty and useless. Depressed people feel bad about themselves. They are critical of themselves. They feel guilty for things that are not their fault. They often feel useless.
• Problems with memory. Depressed people often forget even simple things. They have trouble concentrating. It is hard for them to make decisions.
• Appetite change. Some people with depression want to eat more and may gain weight. Some people with depression want to eat less and may lose weight.
• Suicidal thoughts, plans, or attempts. Depressed people might think about killing or hurting themselves. If you are thinking about killing or hurting yourself, call your doctor or therapist right away, or go to the nearest emrgency room.
• Alcohol and drug use. Overusing alcohol or drugs might be a symptom that a person is depressed. Talk with your doctor or therapist about your use of drugs and alcohol.
• Physical symptoms. Some people with depression have physical symptoms. Headaches, stomach pain, and feeling sick are common.

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4. How Can My Depression Be Treated?

Treatment is usually medicine, talk-therapy, or both. Starting treatment can mean trying something new. This might be hard. You might be nervous. Starting treatment is the hardest part.

• Antidepressant Medication. Depression is often treated with medicine. It can take longer than you might think to start working. Medicine works best if you take it just as your doctor prescribes. It is important to keep taking medicine even if you begin to feel better. Talk to your doctor before making any changes to your medication.
• Why Am I Taking This Medicine? The doctor gives you medicine to help your symptoms. If you were depressed in the past and took medicine, the doctor considers how well it worked. The doctor might give you the same medicine or another one. People do not respond the same way to medicines. Medicine that works well for one person might not work best for you. Different medicines have different doses. Taking a higher dose of medicine than someone else, doesn’t mean that you are more depressed. Never share medicines with another person.
• What About Side Effects? It can take time to get used to taking medicine. Your doctor will give you a low dose of medicine at first. At the start, your doctor should see you more often to see how the medicine is working. The doctor might change how much medicine you take after you say how you feel. Medicines can make you feel things like a dry mouth or even dizziness. You can have problems with sex. These are called side effects. Don’t stop taking your medicine. Be patient. Some side effects will go away after a little while.
• When Will I Feel Better? It might take up to 6 weeks before you begin to feel better. You might have side effects from the medicine before you feel better. Tell you doctor about any side effects. Work together with your doctor to find medicine for you.
• What about talk-therapy? Talking to a psychiatrist, psychologist, or other therapist (this is called psychotherapy) can help you understand your feelings. Changing how you think and what you do may give you more control over your life. You might feel better as soon as you start talking about your problems and symptoms, or it might take a few weeks or longer to feel better, especially if you have been depressed more than once in your life. The most important part of your treatment is your relationship with your therapist. Tell your therapist how you feel and what parts of therapy are working for you.

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