Severe Depression Symptoms

The term “severe depression” is used to refer to patients who suffer from a more complex presentation of depression, with the only best way to define it being a simple listing of the severe depression symptoms. This term is used, interchangeably, to refer to chronic depression and treatment resistant depression. However, it does not mean that if you have either chronic or treatment resistant depression, you are severely depressed. You can have either but not be severely depressed.

You will know that you, or a person you are observing, are severely depressed if they exhibit a number of the symptoms of severe depression discussed below. However, in the case of bereavement, the same symptoms should not be interpreted as severe depression.

If you notice quite a significant change in your weight, either a sudden increase, or a huge loss, yet you are not dieting, then this should point you in the right direction. However, this on its own should not be considered a symptom of severe depression. This weight change is usually accompanied by, or is as a result of changes in one’s appetite. Most severely depressed persons will either have a huge appetite for food, eating excessively, or may lack appetite completely, meaning that they do not feel like eating at all.

When you start losing interest in some activities that you have always loved, or you start losing pleasure in all the activities that used to give plenty of it, then this is another indication of severe depression. This is more so if this loss of interest is happening nearly every day, with you never looking forward to any of these activities day in, day out.

If you have a depressed mood all the time, nearly every day, and are having feelings of sadness for no apparent reason, then this is a huge indicator of severity of your depression. When in this kind of mood, you may also keep crying for no reason. In children and adolescents, one may become very irritable. When you experience such moods and express such traits, then you may be severely depressed.

Another one of major signs of severe depression is extreme sleep tendencies. You either sleep too much, a condition called hypersomnia, or you are unable to sleep at all, a condition called insomnia. This becomes an almost daily trend for you when in this state of severe depression. For most people, they will want to spend all their time in bed. However, for those experiencing insomnia, they tend to stay awake all night long.

Severe depression is also mostly accompanied by loss of energy and extreme tiredness, or fatigue. Though not necessarily true, this happens because of the changes in sleep patterns, feeding patterns, and the mood changes. Associated with these feelings of energy loss is psycho motor retardation and agitation, or simply sluggishness. One moves very sluggishly like they are being forced to move. You also tend to work slower, even on some very simple tasks.

Have you been feeling some excessive and inappropriate guilt for no apparent reason at all almost every day? Do you feel completely worthless, like there is nothing you can do right? Do you feel like you are not worthy to be trusted? If so, this is a sign that you may be getting down with severe depression.

At it’s severest, depression also makes one to have diminished ability to concentrate, even on minor tasks, with reduced thinking abilities. You become very indecisive, quickly forgetting to do some things that one should not be reminded to do. There are also increased incidents of indecisiveness, occurring several times in a day, every day.

The most severe symptom of depression, which dictates immediate medical attention, is suicidal thoughts. If one keeps getting recurring thoughts of committing suicide, with or without a plan, then this is the one most definite symptom of severe depression. Some people will even attempt suicide severally, with some just having thoughts but not acting.

It is good to note that one should not rush to conclude of severe depression without good medical basis and examination. A qualified medical expert, through a series of tests and examinations, is the only person who can diagnose the severity of a depression. Again, the observation of one or just some of the symptoms above should not be considered a conclusive diagnosis of severe depression. This is only reached through interplay of several, or all of the above severe depression symptoms.