Clinical depression is more than feeling unhappy or fed up for a few days.
Most people go through periods of feeling down. When you have clinical depression you feel sad for weeks or months, not just a few days.
Clinical depression can be a serious condition. It is not a sign of weakness. It is not something you can 'snap out of' by 'pulling yourself together'.
With the right treatment and support, most people with clinical depression can make a full recovery.
How to tell if you have clinical depression
Clinical depression affects people in different ways.
The symptoms of clinical depression can be complex and vary from person to person.
Generally, if you have clinical depression:
you feel sad, hopeless and lose interest in things you used to enjoy
you have these symptoms for at least 2 weeks
the symptoms are serious enough to interfere with work, social life or family
There are many other symptoms of clinical depression and you're unlikely to have them all.
Psychological symptoms
The psychological symptoms of clinical depression include:
continuous low mood or sadness
feeling hopeless and helpless
having low self-esteem
feeling tearful
feeling worthless or guilty
feeling irritable and intolerant of others
having no motivation or interest in things
finding it difficult to make decisions
not getting any enjoyment out of life
irritable mood
feeling anxious or worried
having suicidal thoughts or thoughts of harming yourself
Urgent advice:Call 999 or 112 if:
you or someone you know is about to harm themselves or someone else
moving or speaking slower than usual
changes in appetite or weight (usually decreased, but sometimes increased)
constipation
unexplained aches and pains
lack of energy
low sex drive (loss of libido)
changes to your menstrual cycle
disturbed sleep – difficulty falling asleep, waking up early or sleeping more than usual
Social symptoms
The social symptoms of clinical depression include:
not doing well at work
avoiding contact with friends and taking part in fewer social activities
neglecting your hobbies and interests
having difficulties in your home and family life
Severity of clinical depression
Clinical depression often develops gradually. So it can be difficult to notice when something is wrong. You might try to cope with the symptoms without realising you're unwell. It can sometimes take a friend or family member to notice something is wrong.
The severity of clinical depression depends on how much impact it has on your daily life:
mild clinical depression – has some impact
moderate clinical depression – has a significant impact
severe clinical depression – almost impossible to get through daily life
You can have clinical depression and other mental health disorders. For example, anxiety, psychosis or other difficulties.
Grief and depression
It can be difficult to know the difference between grief and clinical depression. Both are similar, but there are differences.
Grief is a natural response to a loss. Clinical depression is an illness.
When you are grieving, you find feelings of sadness and loss come and go. But you are still able to enjoy things and look forward to the future.
If you have clinical depression, you always feel sad. You don't enjoy anything and find it difficult to be positive about the future.
Coping with bereavement
Other types of depression
There are different types of depression. Some conditions may also include depression as a symptom.
Postnatal depression
Some women develop depression after they have a baby. This is postnatal depression. It's treated in a similar way to other types of depression. This includes talking therapies and antidepressant medicines.
Postnatal depression
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder is also called 'manic depression'. In bipolar disorder there are spells of both depression and high mood (mania). If you have bipolar disorder, you will move between depression and mania.
The depression symptoms are like clinical depression.
Mania can include harmful behaviour, such as:
gambling
going on spending sprees
having unsafe sex
Bipolar disorder Seasonal affective disorder Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is also called 'winter depression'. SAD is a type of depression that happens in winter. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) When to get help See your GP if you have symptoms of depression for most of the day, every day, for more than 2 weeks. A low mood may improve after a short time.
Source:
https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/clinical-depression/
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