The Stages of Depression and Their Symptoms

There are certain points in our lives when we feel disappointments and failures. These stressful conditions can be caused by many factors, including school, work and family. This feeling, however, normally goes away in a certain period of time. But in the event that “mood swings” becomes constant, and sadness or feeling low stays for weeks and months, this might be a signal for you to seek help from a health professional as you may already be experiencing certain stages of depression.

Depression is actually a common illness that affects 17 million Americans each year. Despite this alarming statistics, most people who have seen to be suffering from the symptoms of this insidious condition remain untreated. The traditional belief that often link insanity to depression causes the sufferer of the condition to just shy away and hide their illness instead of embracing the fact and stepping forward to seek help. This kind of pessimism could be blamed to the society’s narrow perspective and lack of adequate knowledge.

Depression is a very serious illness that could totally turn someone’s table down. This saddening disease could interfere in and affects one’s work, school performance, and daily life in general. The normal activities that a depressed person usually enjoys become a task that seems to be very difficult to do. Even getting up from bed to do daily routines could prove to be very hard for a depressed individual. A depressed person would rather stay in bed and wallow on their thoughts instead of going to school or work.

Signs of depression could vary from one individual to another, depending on age and sex. But this condition could be detected through the following symptoms: mood swings for obscure reasons, long-term feeling of sadness, dramatic changes in one’s eating habits, poor self image, lack of interest in normal activities, and sleeping disorders. A person that seems to be at certain stages of depression also looks and feels very tired. At advance stage of depression, known as severe depression, people who are suffering from depression would develop feeling of hopelessness and helplessness. It is on this that thoughts of committing suicide sink in.

In most cases, people who are experiencing certain stages of depression would feel self-pity, which usually results in the detriment of one’s intrapersonal and interpersonal abilities. A person suffering from depression would tend to keep his/her problems from his friends or family in the fear that they may be referred to as insane. Because of this, illness further exacerbates. Due to psychological and emotional overload, patients may also have hallucinations that make this illness fatal.

There are several types and stages of depression. These include clinical depression, major depression, bipolar and severe depression just to name a few. This only proves that it is a growing medical enigma that requires immediate attention. Moreover, attention from friends and family in support to the person suffering from such condition could also help alleviate the condition and reduce the risk of other possible life threatening effects.

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