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can leave those without feeling worthless and unloved.
Depression is a continuum, Mr. Nettles explained, as are most illnesses, whether physical or mental.
Cancer, he said, is a physical analogy. Diagnose it early, and you may spend the afternoon in the hospital having a minor operation, or be treated soley as an outpatient. Let it go, and treatment may require longterm hospital care. It can kill you.
If left untreated, depression can kill as surely as cancer.
Spotting the symptoms
Symptoms of depression have been found to be universal, and the majority of cases evidence one or more of the clinically accepted signs.
An important point to remember is that depression varies from mild bad moods to thoughts about, or attempts to commit, suicide. Clinically, depression is not diagnosed until the symptoms have continued for at least two weeks, Mr. Nettles emphasized. Usually there is more than one indication.
“The key factor in diagnosing the severity of a depressive episode is the number of symptoms present, their intensity, and their duration.
“Everybody has trouble falling asleep once in a while,” he said. “That’s not depression.” That is more likely the mind and/or body’s reaction to an immediate problem in the individual’s life.
Insomnia (inability to sleep), or its mirror twin, hypersomnia (sleeping more than usual), are common signs of depression. Everyone has established sleep patterns for their stage of life, Mr. Nettles said. Generally, the younger the person, the more sleep they require. A disturbance in that pattern lasting more than a few nights may be a symptom of depression.
Appetite disturbances are another common signal. Again, the symptoms are mirror images. Anorexic behavior (refusing to eat, or eating almost nothing), or binge eating are the two extremes. Again, long term disturbance of established patterns is the key to the possible presence of depression.
I .oss of interest in activities which usually are enjoyed by the individual, and make up an important part of their life, are another symptom. For example, a person with a long-term, avid interest in a bowling league, or an outdoor hobby, or church, who suddenly loses all interest in that activity may be manifesting a symptom of depression.
Anhedonia, a sudden lack of interest in or inability to enjoy things which are pleasurable, is another common sign. Obviously, a sudden lack of interest in sex is a good example, but a person who enjoys good food who suddenly ceases, without reason, to care about what they eat is only one of many other examples.
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