How can I see or know if i’m depressed?

Depression is having thoughts of past experiences and anxiety is thoughts of future.
Everyone swings between the two, the hard part is knowing what your triggers are when you feel or have depressive thoughts. The goal, stay present, centered.

He sufrido 4 episodios de depresión mayor y estos son los síntomas que te comento te pueden confirmar si estás deprimido:
1) No tienes voluntad para prácticamente nada
2) no duermes sin medicamentos y aún así es difícil.
3) Careces de apetito y pierdes peso aunque no demasiado.
4) He tardado en salir pero se logra aunque me ha llevado entre uno y 2 años.
5)En mi caso dejo de leer ,escuchar música
Hay que distinguir entre depresión reactiva( duelo,divorcio,etc)o depresión enfermedad.Por supuesto es mi caso y puede haber diferentes opiniones

@malebreastcancer47
Absolutely 💯 I am experiencing this right this moment. I am an 82 year old man. I was experiencing depression as a result of early childhood trauma. Only after extensive correspondence with Colleen at the Mayo Clinic have I been able to understand and address my depression. As a 25 year practitioner of Yoga staying centered in the moment is key.

🙏 Namaste

Another viewpoint: from childhood, life is big, scary, and unpredictable. We suffer mini traumas, and more often big ones. Our psych systems respond to protect us by shutting down (dissociating). We then fill in the blank with a fantasy of who we are and how life should be. With some money and the support of others joining in the fantasy, we stroll along happy. Then, a song, a movie, a death, a job loss, a divorce, a neighbor gets a big bonus-promotion and moves away, a re-experiencing of the old trauma, and BOOM 💥 Reality breaks through. Reaction Anger turned inward is depression.
Solution: embrace the Reality and live in Reality, and/or embrace the Reality and make a new Fantasy to live in, but remember......

Symptoms of depression- feeling sadness, having difficulty getting yourself motivated to do pretty much anything, irritably, having difficulty interacting with others. As was said previously, it tends to be directly related to anxiety. Mine is the result of childhood abuse. It’s important to see a psychiatrist for a definite diagnosis and treatment.

Have you met with a mental health professional, either psychiatrist or psychologist? I have had lifelong depression issues and received a bipolar 2 diagnosis at age 59. I felt like my entire life suddenly made sense.

How frequent is it? Several times a year? Only now and then? A diagnosis might help you understand it better, and possibly get medication if needed.

Once you have a better sense of what the driver might be, there's a lot of information online that can be helpful in addition to medical treatment. Be cautious however, and stick to credible sources like Mayo, PubMed, NAMI, and the like. There's a lot of misinformation out there as well.

How severe is it? If the depression is accompanied by thoughts of self-harm, definitely get seen sooner rather than later. A good therapist can help you figure out if it's medical and assist in finding a psychiatrist. And routine sessions with a licensed professional are good treatment whether it's medical or not.

I'd advise seeing a psychiatrist if it is medical. General practitioners don't have that level of expertise. I've discussed elsewhere in these threads how my (now former) doctor tossed antidepressants at me and that was it. In my case they backfired and worsened my condition, which is rare but can happen. A psychiatrist will put you on a regular schedule of visits, monitor how you're doing on medication, and know what changes to make if needed.

A therapist can also direct you to support groups in your area. When you meet others face-to-face who are experiencing depression, you don't feel so alone with it. That makes a huge difference. Online support groups are also helpful, but again, exercise caution. It can be easy to dive down a wormhole. If the tone of the group is hostility towards medical professionals, it's best to avoid those. There certainly are a few doctors out there who aren't competent – that's true of any profession – but the overwhelming majority are.

My general former practitioner was aging out of the profession, so only understood antidepressants but didn't know the potential problems that come with them. The one I see now is young, so his training is more up to date. He was also a military doctor during the recent wars, so he has a lot of experience with mental health issues. For your regular medical concerns, and not just depression, I'd advise seeing someone on the younger side.

My other piece of advice from my experience is to call or do online chats with 988 if you're having troubles coping and, especially if you're having thoughts of self-harm. (https://988lifeline.org) They saved my life when I was on the brink. It was the first time I went to them. Even if you aren't feeling you're in a dangerous place, they can offer guidance. I've done the online chat a couple of times when depression set in late at night and I couldn't get immediate help locally. They can talk you through it.

Hopefully this information helps. Update us as you navigate your way through this. You don't just get helpful suggestions here, you can also help others who might have similar symptoms. I suspect there are a lot of people who don't contribute to these threads but do read them. You could very well save a life and never know it.

@abelmarcelo
Unfortunately I don’t know how to translate this message. Perhaps Mayo can send me instructions.

Thanks Mayo

Mort Hurt

@dyas I ran it through Google Translate. It's not a perfect platform for translation, but it's pretty reliable.

Here's what came out:

I have experienced four episodes of major depression, and the following symptoms can help confirm whether you are depressed:

1) You lack the will to do practically anything.

2) You cannot sleep without medication, and even then, it is difficult.

3) You lose your appetite and drop some weight, though not a drastic amount.

4) It takes time to recover, but it is possible—though for me, it has taken between one and two years.

5) In my case, I stop reading and listening to music.

It is important to distinguish between reactive depression (triggered by grief, divorce, etc.) and depression as a clinical illness. Of course, this is based on my own experience, and there may be differing opinions.

Thank you 🙏 so much. I am very fortunate to have this amazing woman in my life. I have none of those symptoms. It’s been a lifetime journey. I am at the very best point in life l. Oh sure, there are moments but nothing that cannot be addressed

Oh 👍 yes thank you for suggest Google.

@abelmarcelo
Gracias 🙏 for your response. Unfortunately my foreign language skills ? we’re Latin, French and German. One of our fellow respondents ran your article through Googles Translator App