Recognising symptoms

Being depressed can show itself in different ways. It commonly affects how you feel, how you see yourself and your relationships with other people. Experiencing a number of the symptoms below on most days over the past month or more suggests you, or your relative, could need help:

• feeling tired most of the time
• sleeping badly - difficulty getting to sleep or waking up early and being unable to go back to sleep
• loss of appetite or eating more than usual
• weight change over a relatively short time – loss or gain
• experiencing physical aches and pains and unfounded fears of serious illness
• feeling apathetic and unable to enjoy things you normally enjoy
• distancing yourself from people, particularly those close to you 
• being reluctant to engage in usual activities or leave your house
• losing confidence in yourself and feeling life is pointless
• being self-critical and feeling guilty
• being unable to concentrate
• feeling anxious
• having suicidal thoughts.

Symptoms that also suggest a physical illness – such as tiredness, weight loss, problems sleeping and aches and pains - tend to be more typical in older people who are depressed and can disguise an underlying depression.