6 Symptoms Of Severe Depression That You Should Know About

Severe depression is the most serious type of depression.

We live in a very advanced society when it comes to technological and social aspects. For the time being, however, the emotional world continues to be our unsolved problem. These are private areas where millions of people are caught most often.

Depression is one of the most common diseases in our world today. Nevertheless, the influence continues to be quiet and discreet, an unpleasant reality that not everyone knows how to handle or talk about.

It is common for many people to ask us to get together and get started. Many people still believe that you just need to shift gears and be happy to overcome depression. In fact, most people continue to associate depression with sadness. They think that to overcome it, you just need to laugh a little more and change your mood. Actually, however, it is something much more deep and brutal.

We forget that in many cases sadness, beyond the negative connotation, has adaptive value. It helps us reflect, look at ourselves and move on.

With severe depression, sadness is not adaptive, but quite the opposite. There are a number of internal and very dark processes. These are acute and exhausting processes that push the person into a persistent defenselessness.

In this article we will talk about the symptoms of major depression.

The symptoms of major depression

1. Anhedonia in severe depression

In reality, being sad does not explain any kind of depression. In fact, major depression is extremely torturous and persistent.

What people experience above all with this type of disease is anhedonia, and the effects take the following form:

• Lack of interest in things around them
• Lack of feeling happy about something
• Extreme exhaustion
• Constant irritability
• Lack of initiative
• Inability to perform any activity (not because the person has a physical problem, there is simply a lack of energy and desire to do things).

2. There are certain symptoms that always appear

According to the Diagnostic Manual and Statistics of Mental Illnesses, there are 5 very specific symptoms to identify this type of disease.

We find these among the following:

• A depressive condition most of the day and almost every day
• Loss of interest in the activities that the person previously enjoyed
• Insomnia or excessive sleep
• Weight loss or gain in a short time
• Problems with concentration and inability to make decisions
• Feelings of guilt
• Extreme exhaustion
• Suicidal thoughts
• Slow movements

3. Aspects not related to major depression

The Diagnostic Manual explains that there are also a number of dimensions that, in order to be diagnosed with depression, are not present in the lives of patients with major depression.

They are as follows:

• Severe depression can not be associated with pain caused by the weeks after the loss of a loved one.
• Nor can it be linked to a separation. Remember that this is a normal process when someone experiences a loss.

• Severe depression will not be diagnosed if a person experienced an episode of mania or suffers from psychosis or other types of illnesses.

4. There is not one type of major depression

One thing we should make clear is that when we talk about mental illness, each case is unique. Each person is different and presents a number of unique characteristics. Knowing how to treat them is important.

At the same time, it is important to realize that there are two types of depression.

They are as follows:

• Severe depression with only one episode that the person experiences only once in a lifetime.
• Recurrent depression : This is much more complex and is actually more common. There are many patients who have already had severe depression in adolescence and later, more than once, in adulthood.

5. What is the origin?

Severe depression is a complex condition, with many labyrinths and black holes – as many for science as for patients.

This is because we are facing a disease that generally does not have a single cause, but multifactorial causes.

• In part, it is genetic.
• Your upbringing, the training you have received and possible life traumas are also significant factors.
• The adversity  experienced in adolescence, such as our social situation, are also possible indicators.

• The personality of the individual is also a factor (low self-esteem, cognitive problems and learned feelings of helplessness.)
• Economic problems and times of crisis are also possible factors.

At the same time, we must not forget anything important: many times this is due to a chemical problem, a lowering of dopamine, and therefore it is always important to get adequate medication.

6. There are treatments for major depression

When dealing with major depression, we need to focus on the options available to us.

• The most important things that no one can discredit are medication and psychotherapy. These are the most appropriate cognitive and behavioral treatments. Among them, cognitive behavioral therapy stands out as one of the best therapies for depression.

• On the other hand , we have our range of attention or more emotional techniques, such as rational perception, self-confidence training, and problem-solving techniques. These are all useful tools for overcoming any type of depression or anxiety.

Every person should use the strategy and solution that helps the most in overcoming their depression little by little.

Illustrations by Agnes Cecile