A Sober Life

At what point do the signs and symptoms of depression become cause for concern. When do they become medical condition that needs medication treatment and/or therapy? For the signs and symptoms of depression to have clinical significance two important criteria must both be true and 5 out of 9 signs and symptoms of depression must be present.

For the signs and symptoms of depression to have clinical significance these two important criteria must both be true: (1) The signs and symptoms of depression last for several days (at least 2 weeks); (2) Depression symptoms become disruptive to major areas of a person’s life; and depression symptoms negatively and noticeably impact relationships, work, or school.

In particular, clinical depression is usually defined as a collection of any 5 of 9 signs and symptoms of depression. It’s helpful to look at the nine symptoms in 3 groups.

Category 1 is the group of symptoms that have an explicit or obvious physical nature. Translation: a man or a woman feels it in his or her body. The five physical signs and symptoms of depression are (1) Feeling slow, i.e., slowing of one’s thoughts and actions (e.g., much more difficulty getting started on something than usual) OR agitation (irritable attitude and physical tension); (2) Fatigue or loss of energy every day; (3) Diminished ability to think or concentrate or indecisiveness, nearly every day; (4) Sleep problems nearly every day (excessive sleeping or insomnia); (5) Significant change in weight not due to dieting (weight gain or loss of more than 5% of body weight in a month).

The next group of signs and symptoms of depression are different. Think of these depression symptoms as what depression feels like from the inside. These are: (6) Sad mood most of the day, nearly every day; (7) Noticeable loss of interest or pleasure in nearly all activities most of every day; (8) Feelings of worthlessness or excessive (or inappropriate) guilt nearly every day.

The third group is really just one symptom in a class of it’s own. If a person is having thoughts about death that keep returning, this is almost certainly an indicator of clinical depression, whether or not the person can recognize any other signs and symptoms of depression.

It’s important to be clear about what “thoughts of death” actually means. Common examples are recurrent images of death (not just fear of dying), recurring thoughts about suicide, frequently imagining one’s own death, or an actual suicidal attempt, or just having made plans, or a suicidal gesture (deliberate carelessness in dangerous situations such as intentional reckless driving).

To get the story on the signs and symptoms of depression, follow the posts at HealthandViews.com.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.