Depression Screening: Identifying the Obvious & Not So Well-Known Symptoms
I once heard it said that depression is the “common cold” of mental health conditions. According to the World Health Organization, 5% of adults worldwide suffer from depression. And some estimates suggest that 280,000,000 people suffer from depression in the world today. Now that number may not sound like a huge deal when you compare it to the world’s population of 7.8 billion people. But if you’re one of those people who experience or have struggled with chronic depression, then you know firsthand how this change in your mood can negatively affect EVERYTHING—your day-to-day social, occupational and emotional functioning. In honor of National Depression and Health Screening Month, I wanted to provide a list of well-known as well as some not-so-well-known symptoms that you can look/watch out for in yourself and those you love.
Common depression symptoms
When you hear that someone is depressed, which symptoms immediately pop to mind? If I had you write them down, you’d probably write something like this:
Depressed/sad mood, crying spells
Not interested in pleasurable activities
Decrease in appetite
Difficulty falling or staying asleep
Fatigue, sluggishness or low energy
Feeling of worthlessness, guilt, shame, or hopelessness
Social isolation/emotional withdrawal
Thoughts of death, dying or suicide
And you’d be right. All of these are classic symptoms of depression. But this doesn’t account for all of the changes you may experience when you’re feeling depressed. As a matter of fact, some people struggle to believe they have depression because their symptoms include some you wouldn’t expect.
Not so well-known depression symptoms
Irritability (very common in children but can also be seen in adults)
Chronic physical pain (some people may somatize their symptoms meaning it may show up in physical ways such as more headaches, muscle tension, etc. I see this a lot in Caribbean populations)
Substance use (think of it like a form of self-medicating)
Brain fog (“an inability to focus on tasks, slower reaction times, forgetfulness and feelings of being mentally “blocked.””)
Weight changes that are not linked to dieting. (I have seen people come in who gained or loss 20 pounds without even trying to!)
Hypersomnia (fancy way of saying that you’re sleeping for hours on end. I’ve known of people who went from sleeping 6 hours a day to 16 hours a day. So in some ways, sleep becomes an escape from their depression/lives)
Decreased attention/concentration or indecisiveness (goes with the brain fog above^)
Low motivation (you just can’t seem to “get up and go” like you used to)
Psychomotor agitation/retardation (a jargony way of saying you’re overly restless or slow; and you don’t just feel this way, others can see it too!)
In other words, depression may not only show up in “obvious” ways where you’re constantly sad and mope around like Eeyore. It may show up as you feeling like a shell of your former self or as if the life has been slowly drained out of you.
What can you do?
If you’ve noticed that you’ve started to feel off, and you can’t quite figure out why, consider getting a mental health screening. Your primary care doctor should include a mental health screening as a part of your annual checkup. Remember, you should feel comfortable to open up to your provider about what you are feeling and experiencing. If you do not feel comfortable doing so with your specific doctor, you may want to start looking for another provider.
While depression is one of the most common mental health conditions out there, there are so many treatment options available. But you’ll never be able to get your depression addressed if you don’t first acknowledge there’s a problem. Here are a few resources below to help you get started:
What to Expect From a Depression Screening
10 Unusual Warning Signs of Depression
Uncommon Signs and Symptoms of Depression
Free Therapy Vouchers (for Black women and girls)
Psychology Today (Resource to help you find a therapist or psychiatrist)