Normal Moods

Good or bad, our moods are the quality of our feelings at any particular time. They are an important part of our everyday experiences and add richness to the quality of life. From time to time everyone feels 'down' or 'fed up' or 'out of sorts'. Feeling sadness, concern, disappointment and annoyance are normal emotional responses to situations that did not turn out the way you would have liked them to. These feelings are often a useful message that some effort is required to readjust how you're thinking, or that something constructive must be done to deal with your feelings or to change the situation. Negative feelings might also be a reminder to accept the discrepancy between what we think should be happening and the reality of what is.

Depression

Many people will experience more intense distressing feelings than normal at some time during their life. Depression lasts longer than sadness and the blues, and the accompanying feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and indecisiveness often seem overwhelming.

Recognising the Symptoms of Depression

Feeling depressed involves a wide range of symptoms which are different for each individual both in nature and severity. Noticeable changes in some of the following areas may indicate the presence of a depression:

Mood

• feeling sad, moody, gloomy or dejected
• feeling irritable and unable to cope with everyday demands
• feeling guilty
• feeling shut off or emotionally numb
• being unable to experience pleasure
• feeling anxious, agitated or restless
• dreading everyday activities
• feeling despair

Thinking

• seeing yourself in a much poorer light
• being overly self-critical
• blaming yourself for doing supposedly dreadful things
• blaming yourself for how you feel
• believing that your depression is a punishment for past wrongs
• having negative expectations and doubts about the future
• believing that you can't cope and that things are out of your control
• having difficulty making decisions and thinking clearly
• thinking of suicide or other destructive activities, even planning how you might act out such urges
• imagining that others are putting you down and are out to get you
• poor concentration and memory

Behaviour

• cutting back on your activities
• lacking energy and motivation
• feeling weepy or having difficulty crying if you want to
• feeling agitated and unable to stick at things for very long
• feeling sluggish
• neglecting self-care and hygiene
• withdrawing socially or becoming too dependent on people
• increasing your use of drugs or alcohol

Physical Health

• losing weight due to loss of appetite
• overeating or food cravings
• experiencing disturbed sleep patterns, such as waking during the night and being unable to get back to sleep, having difficulty falling asleep or oversleeping
• losing interest in sexual activities
• experiencing aches, pains and gastrointestinal problems
• having menstrual irregularities
• feeling physically ill

People experience depression in different ways.

"When I'm feeling depressed I can't be bothered doing anything. I just want to stay in bed and avoid everyone and everything."

Michelle

"For me it is like having a great weight on my shoulders. It is as if I am fighting my way through a thick blinding mist and have become lost. Sometimes I don't feel that I'm able to keep fighting."

David

"When I'm depressed, I feel that I am no one anymore. My inside is like an empty pit. All I want to do is to curl up and disappear. I can't face anyone - I don't want them to see me crying like this. I feel so frightened. If only I had measles or a broken leg - I could accept that more."

Katherine

"I get so lonely sometimes. I hear the clock tick and listen to the time pass so slowly and just wish that the day would hurry up and finish."

Ruth

Understanding Depression

"I've created a personal strategy that uses my tendency to depression to improve rather than detract from my quality of life. I use my low moods to teach me how to take better care of myself or to alert me to things I need to handle differently or change."

Nancy Miller, depression sufferer

"Many of us spend our whole lives running from feeling with the mistaken belief that you cannot bear the pain. But you have already borne the pain. What you have not done is feel all you are beyond that pain."

Kahlil Gibran