Depression is not just a feeling. It’s a mental condition that affects the way you live your life. Contrary to popular belief, depression is more than just sadness and feeling under the weather. Depression is feeling empty and void no matter how hard you try. Even on a good day, you feel this numbness inside of you that you can’t ignore.
Depression can be seen in various ways, such as feeling unmotivated all the time. In this article, we’ll be talking about the unexpected symptoms of depression.
1. Physical Pain
One of the physical symptoms of depression includes pain, such as back pain or aching muscles. You might feel initially okay when you get up, but physical depression symptoms such as these will start later on in the day.
Physical pain is one of the most underrated physical signs of depression, as it is an important sign of psychological distress. A study has proven the correlation between depression and backache, and professionals believe emotional pain can cause physical problems such as muscle pain. Other studies show that this has to do with the neurologic pathway shared by depression and physical pain.
2. Bad Hygiene and Personal Care
No longer having the energy or motivation to take care of yourself is classified as one of the signs of depression. The reason behind this is that depressed people feel unmotivated to do anything, and this affects even their basic hygiene and self-care activities. People with depression neglect themselves as well as other things like responsibilities.
The worst part of this symptom does not just involve hygiene: Depressed people often neglect to take care of their health and well-being, such as neglecting your medications for diabetes or engaging in unhealthy eating habits. This can lead to serious health problems.
3. Compulsive Shopping
Depression can leave you so numb and void that you feel that compulsive shopping is a way to deal with your lack of emotions. One of the signs you are depressed is when you impulsively use your savings or credit to buy things that you barely need.
However, retail shopping does not solve your depression or make it any better in the long run. People diagnosed with depression need something to make them feel a sense of motivation and unfortunately, this could be in the form of shopping.
4. Excessive Internet Usage
When the real world gets too painful and unbearable, people with depression often turn to the virtual world. While technology has its advantages and perks, people with depression use this as an escape to an excessive degree.
With depression, you may spend hours on the internet, often being unaware that the whole day has passed. Studies have also proven the link between depression and overconsumption of the internet, whether this means social media or video games. Depression makes you want to avoid your mental problems and resort to an easier world, which can easily be found on the internet.
5. Risky Sexual Behavior or Lower Libido
Engaging in risky sexual behavior is one of the signs of clinical depression. Sex can be used as a form to release tension and stress. This means engaging in all kinds of risky sexual behavior, including one-night stands, unprotected sex or infidenlity. Risky sexual behaviors can damage your health and well-being, as there are a lot of negative effects that may come with it. Even as it may help with your depression at first, you’ll feel worse in the long run.
On the other hand, depression may lead to a lower libido for a prolonged period of time.
6. Smoking
Smoking is a warning sign of depression. When you are depressed, there’s a high tendency to smoke to help yourself cope with what you’re feeling. In fact, studies show that smoking is popular among those who are depressed.
This is also classified under not taking care of yourself, as smoking is a self-destructive habit on its own. When you’re depressed, you lose an interest in your own health, and smoking can be seen as a way out of the darkness you feel.
The good thing is that you can address your smoking addiction with forms of therapy that may also help with your depression.
7. Obesity and Overeating
Studies have found that obesity is linked with depression. The reason behind this is that food affects your mood and it makes you feel better. People diagnosed with depression turn to habits such as binge eating and stress eating as a way to cope with what they feel.
The lack of motivation and fulfillment that comes with depression is what urges individuals with depression to consume more food than their regular intake, not caring about the overall impact on their health. It is also often that people with depression have trouble sleeping, and the habit of binge eating is often done at night.
8. Forgetfulness
Depression is a mental condition known for making you feel groggy or forgetful. It may be that you’re trying to remember something you were supposed to do or forgetting important information or facts.
Prolonged stress or depression can increase the level of cortisol in your body, which can weaken aspects in your brain such as concentration, focus and memory. You may feel like you have no purpose and everything feels like a world of gray, as if you’re just living through the days. When the stress hormone in your body increases, your memory and concentration weaken along with it, which is also why you have a hard time finding things that you are interested in. A lack of interest is one of the common symptoms that come with depression, along with forgetfulness.
Conclusion
If you are diagnosed with depression, it’s easy to feel numb and void. You may feel unmotivated with everything, and these symptoms are just some of the symptoms that may not be obvious at first glance. Understanding and noticing the symptoms of depression is an important part of recognizing and treating your depression.
By Admin –
