Depression is not just an overwhelming feeling of sadness; it can look and feel very different for each person. You either mask your depression in public or you wear your depression on your sleeve. In both circumstances, the symptoms remain the same and even when you’ve tried to be happy, the depression is still there.
8 Common Symptoms from DSM-5
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5 is a book the American Psychiatric Association collaborated to describe common symptoms of different mental health disorders. This book helps professionals like me, a therapist, to be aware of the symptoms to better help you. In this blog I’m going to help you understand if what you are feeling is depression by sharing 8 common symptoms that other people like you may be feeling.
Drastic change in your weight or eating habits.
Some weeks you’ll over eat and other weeks you may not want to eat at all. Your eating habits affect your weight therefore you may notice your weight fluctuate.
No desire to do anything.
This includes with the people you love. Your friends and family invite you out and you find yourself constantly saying “no” and staying in.
Difficulty going to sleep, staying asleep, or sleeping too much.
For teens it’s common to go to sleep late and wake up later. However, with this symptom you try to go to sleep but can’t so you stay up most of the night. If you can go to sleep, there are times when you will wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble going back to sleep. Or you are sleeping any chance you get.
Constantly tired.
You feel restless and even weak at times feeling as if you have zero to low energy.
Irritated.
You may find yourself annoyed with anyone and everything, which leads to being angry and frustrated at everything.
Negative self-talk or low self-esteem.
This means about 75% of your day you are thinking negative about yourself. For example, “I suck, I’m going to do terrible on this test, and nobody likes me.” Overtime, negative thoughts may cause low self-esteem and can influence the way you act or respond around others.
Difficulty staying on task.
During school, you have difficulty concentrating on the teacher or tasks they give you in class. It’s hard to complete your assignments inside and outside of class.
Suicidal thoughts.
You have thoughts of taking your own life and believe people will be ‘better’ here without you. If you are feeling this specific symptom, please know you are not alone and contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline (NSPH) 1-800-273-8255. They are very helpful and helping teens like you every day.
Each teen is unique and they show different signs of depression. If you (or someone you know) are experiencing most of these symptoms please ask your parents, a trusted adult, or contact the NSPH for help. Teens who have suffered from depression have also overcome symptoms of depression with proper guidance and professional help. You are not alone and can also live a happy and healthy life.
If you have any questions or concern about depression, please feel free to call or text me at 786.519.4375, or just visit the contact us page to fill out a quick form.
Sources:
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.).