Is your Depression Clinical or Not?

Before you can identify the signs of clinical depression it’s important to understand what the term means.  Many people may suffer from depression, but clinical depression means there is something

Depression whether clinical or not can be very difficult to diagnose because the symptoms of depression may be the same as those experienced from just being temporarily unhappy because of circumstances or incidents.  What usually triggers a depressed person or his or her loved ones is the length of time symptoms remain. There is not a person who has not suffered from extreme sadness at some time during his or her life such as the end of a relationship or loss of a loved one, but when the sadness continues beyond a reasonable period of time, it may not be sadness but depression.  With clinical depression, however, it is not usually the result of a sad event, though the stress of such an incident may cause an increase in the depressive state.

One of the most important parts of treating clinical depression is being able to recognize the symptoms.  That doesn’t mean that the existence of any of these symptoms means one is suffering from clinical depression, but it does mean that there is a need to seek professional counseling. When trying to determine if a friend or loved one is suffering from clinical depression, you will need to look for these signs of clinical depression before you take any action:

• Decreased concentration
• Lack of ability to experience pleasure
• Increased negativity toward one’s self
• Inability to fall asleep or stay asleep
• Feeling of fatigue even after sleeping for twelve hours
• Decreased appetite or loss of taste for food
• Feeling guilty, helpless or hopeless
• Suicidal thoughts
• Isolating yourself from others
• Lowering your standards or missing deadlines
• Personality changes
• Increase in sexual activity to the point of promiscuity
• Increasing your use of alcohol or drugs

Although experiencing some of these symptoms of depression does not mean you are suffering from clinical depression, it should open your eyes to the possibility of depression.  Having some of the symptoms for a short time is no trigger, but it is important to monitor how you feel and report it to your doctor.  Many people have a problem seeing a mental health professional or even talking to their primary care physician about their mental health, but there is no way to treat your depression if you don’t talk about it.  Clinical depression is a medical condition that you can treat with medication—you would not hesitate to take medication for your allergies nor should you feel hesitant to take medication for clinical depression.