Understanding Depression and Anxiety

July 10, 2018

What are the signs of depression?

If you have felt many of these symptoms nearly every day for two weeks or longer, you may have clinical depression, not just common sadness:

  • Depressed mood: feeling sad, tearful, irritable, or easily angered
  • Little interest or pleasure in activities you used to enjoy
  • Increase or decrease in appetite or weight
  • Sleeping much more or much less than usual
  • Restlessness or decreased activity
  • Fatigue or loss of energy
  • Feelings of worthlessness or guilt
  • Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
  • Thoughts of death or suicide
  • Persistent negative thoughts
  • Trouble sleeping
  • Tense feelings
  • Preoccupation with unpleasant or irrational worries
  • Fear that something awful might happen

Sometimes depression can manifest as ANXIETY, with symptoms such as:

  • Trouble sleeping
  • Tense feelings in the body
  • Preoccupation with unpleasant or irrational worries
  • Fear that something awful might happen.

Hidden signs of depression and anxiety

  • Family history of suicide
  • Family history of child maltreatment
  • Previous suicide attempt(s)
  • History of mental disorders, particularly depression
  • History of alcohol and substance abuse
  • Feelings of hopelessness
  • Impulsive or aggressive tendencies
  • Cultural and religious belief
  • Local epidemic of suicide
  • Isolation and Loss
  • Barriers to accessing mental health
  • Physical illness
  • Easy access to lethal methods
  • Unwillingness to seek help because of the stigma attached to mental health and substance abuse disorders or to suicidal thoughts.

Other Behaviors to watch out for:

  • Avoiding activities and people
  • Aggression/Irritability
  • Talking about being a burden to others/feeling trapped
  • Reassurance Seeking
  • Procrastination
  • Acting recklessly
  • Sudden burst in energy
  • Giving away possessions
  • Researching materials and ways to kill themselves
  • Increased use of alcohol or drugs

If you feel severely depressed or have persistent thoughts of death or of harming yourself, please seek help immediately. Call your doctor promptly. For urgent needs, call 911.

Based in Southern California in beautiful Newport, CA, here at Social Growth Center, we can help you or your loved one struggling with depression and anxiety.

We specialize in Social Skills Training that can help Teens and Young Adults with depression and anxiety. Learn more about our OC peers group here.

We also offer a spectrum of services including ADHD, Autism, Individual Therapy, Parent Training, and Online Therapy. Visit out website at: https://socialgrowthcenter.com/