How Can I Tell When Someone Is Depressed?

In our current world, we all have to make our way in society, and strive to survive and fit in. Along the way, one can be presented with enormous challenges, such as – family/relationship problems, financial difficulties, chronic illness, poor employment prospects and bereavement.

 All these scenarios force our bodies to brace themselves for the task ahead – potentially producing stress hormones, and elevated blood pressure levels.  It is these difficult challenges and pressures that can trigger depression.

Even when a person is either going through or coming out of a crisis – they will rarely know that they are spiraling into a depressed state as symptoms tend to come on very gradually, and they simply find them selves heading for rock bottom. However, it is generally people around the depressed person such as family and close friends that notice a negative change in their behaviour.

The symptoms of depression  can manifest on various levels, and each every person can be affected differently.

For instance – the depressive affects could be physical. In this case, the person may complain of unexplainable aches and pains. These aches and pains commonly relate the head and stomach. If someone is suffering from constant headaches without any underlying health condition, then this could be stress. At times, it often extends to stomach upsets, and can be accompanied by loss of appetite.

Other signs of stress are psychological. These symptoms mainly cover the mental status of a person. Different people experience different psychological effects. For instance – some people show signs of irritability. They may have a tendency to magnify very trivial issues into more serious ones and exhibit outbursts of anger and frustration. On the other hand – Others simply withdraw from people, and suddenly prefer being alone.

Some other stress symptoms affect the intellectual aspect of a person. A normal person is able to maintain a certain amount of concentration when carrying out any task, but when under stress, ones attention span is greatly reduced. There are certain decisions that everyone faces on a daily basis, and are considered to be a normal part of every day life, but for someone who is depressed – simple daily living routines can be very daunting.

There are other general signs of stress that one should check out for. These include indigestion and bowel problems, general nervousness and problems sleeping, (insomnia).

Once you start experiencing any of these symptoms – it is advisable that you seek the help of your Doctor as depression can be curbed before it escalates into something much worse.

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