Depression & Antidepressants: A Guide

(Excerpt 1)

What are the symptoms of depression? In addition to depressed mood, symptoms of depression include:

• Decreased interest in usual activities
• Insomnia (although some depressed people oversleep)
• Decreased appetite and weight loss (although some depressed people overeat and gain weight)
• Reduced ability to experience pleasure
• Difficulty concentrating
• Loss of interest in sex
• Fatigue, loss of energy
• Feeling worthless
• Feeling guilty
• Feeling helpless and without hope
• Reduced self-esteem
• Crying
• Anxiety, restlessness and agitation
• Irritability, inappropriate anger
• Physical symptoms (such as headache, digestive problems and pain)
• Wishing to be dead
• Thoughts of suicide and suicidal behavior

Not everyone who is depressed has all the symptoms listed above. Symptoms may differ from person to person as well as from one depressive episode to the next. For example, some people may have insomnia and lose weight while depressed, whereas others may oversleep, overeat and gain weight.