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Clinical Depression: Signs and Symptoms to Watch For

Depression

It’s only human to feel sad, alone, and detached from time to time. However, if these feelings stick around for 2 or more weeks and they’re interfering with your life, it could be clinical depression.

Clinical depression (or major depressive disorder) manifests emotionally and physically. It is known to cause persistent feelings of sadness and apathy. If you’re suffering from depression, you’re likely to feel alone, emotional, and uninterested in many activities previously enjoyed. For example, you attended a yoga class followed by dinner with friends every week but recently have felt withdrawn and haven’t had interest in attending.

Depression is one of the most common illnesses out there. In the U.S., depression affects about 7 percent of the adult population, and about 25 percent of people will experience it at some point.

Clinical depression can strike suddenly and seemingly for no reason, but it’s often brought on by significant life events such as the death of a loved one, relationship troubles (including friendship, family, or a partner), the end of a relationship, moving, loss of a job or changing jobs, social isolation, graduation, abuse, and more. One notable factor about clinical depression is that it affects women at nearly twice the rate as men. This is due to a number of factors, but many are tied to hormonal changes that occur throughout the lifespan alongside menstruation, pregnancy, menopause, and miscarriage. Should you notice changes in your mood surrounding any of these situations, or even seemingly out of the blue, it’s always a good idea to speak with your doctor.

Signs and Symptoms

  • Trouble concentrating and focusing
  • Restlessness
  • Fatigue
  • Changes in sleep patterns, whether sleeping more or less than usual, or suffering from insomnia
  • Loss of interest in activities
  • Withdrawal from close friends and family
  • Having a short temper
  • Suicidal thoughts
  • Changes in appetite
  • Feeling more emotional than usual
  • Feeling apathetic
  • A diminished sex drive
  • Significant change in body weight, whether weight loss or weight gain

If you would like to meet with a knowledgeable doctor, consider contacting Women’s Health Arizona. As Arizona’s largest ObGyn group, we’re trained and solely dedicated to delivering the best ObGyn experience in convenient and comfortable settings around Phoenix.

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