For most people, depression is characterized by crying, isolating themselves in a dark room, and playing sad music.
However, depression is an experience that goes deeper in every individual. What you see on the surface doesn’t tell the whole story. There are even cases when the symptoms are impossible to detect.
Learning about these symptoms is critical to detecting the onset of depression and choosing the right interventions.
Here’s a list of the most overlooked symptoms you should know about:
Slower speech and movement
A reduction in a person’s ability to speak or move can be a more common effect of depression than you might think.
This is known as psychomotor retardation. According to this study, it is common among patients who suffer from melancholic depression and psychiatric professionals can easily detect them. Psychomotor retardation can manifest in several ways, including poor eye contact, slumped standing and sitting postures, reduced articulation, and delayed responses in individuals.
Difficulty in decision-making
Overthinking can be an obvious sign of depression, especially if the person is normally decisive regardless of the situation.
Depressed people often struggle with making simple decisions. Everything from choosing what to eat for breakfast to choosing what to wear can be a complicated task.
In some cases, a person hesitates or avoids a situation where they will have to choose. This can interfere with daily life and disrupt their performance at work.
Guilt on various life events
Guilt over past life events is also another example of the most overlooked depression symptoms.
The event does not even need to be that significant at all. For one, it can boil down to a minor mistake that didn’t hurt anyone. Nonetheless, they may feel responsible for it and keep reminding themselves about it.
One thing’s for sure, excessive guilt can add to one’s anxiety and amplify other symptoms of depression.
Changes in weight and figure
People who are depressed slowly develop changes in their weight and figure.
That’s because patients either overeat or undereat depending on how their depression affects them. In the case of overeating, a person may experience what is known as emotional eating. This happens when the food they eat gives them a sense of emotional comfort.
Whichever case, drastic change’s in a person’s appetite can be a warning sign of depression. Pay attention to their eating habits and see if these are affecting their figure and overall health.
Sudden bouts of physical pain
Yes, people affected with depression may experience bouts of physical pain.
Chronic pain can come from seemingly nowhere and can manifest itself in the forms of back pain, aching muscles, or a headache. A Harvard Medical School article cited a study that found that patients with major depression are three times more likely to experience a migraine attack. In addition, people who have a history of migraine attacks may experience their first depressive episode.
The link between chronic pain and emotional health is close. Learning about a person’s experience with sudden physical pain can give you insight into how likely depression sets in.
There are numerous other symptoms of depression you need to check, but it’s always important to seek advice from a mental health professional who can uncover latent signs and develop an effective treatment plan
At Mid Cities Psychiatry, you can trust a team of professionals to help you or a loved one overcome the effects of depression. Using the right diagnostic tools and treatment methods, we can help you or your loved ones achieve a full recovery. Contact us today! We’re located in Grapevine, TX, but we’re about to move to our new and permanent location at 200 Westpark Way, Euless, TX 76040. That’s about 5-7 minutes from our present location, so come visit us!.