When a person is depressed, their behavior changes from how they normally act. The causes of depression can be many, for example, important changes in your life, hormonal changes, prolonged stress or poorly managed grief, among others. Furthermore, a depressed person manifests specific symptoms that can worsen if they persist over time.
If you suspect that someone close to you may be depressed, in this Psychology-Online article, we will tell you what is the profile of a depressed person. We explain the symptoms of depression and the behaviors you can observe to confirm or deny your suspicions.
Symptoms of depressive personality
The most common symptoms in a depressed person are and the . Therefore, a person with depression generally does not make plans and tries to be at home as much as possible, preferably in bed or on the couch. He doesn’t feel like interacting and feels insecure. Find out what they are like.
Next, we will see what the other symptoms of depressive personality are:
- There is nothing that motivates him: neither leisure, nor the people around him, much less his work. This in turn makes you feel guilty for not doing anything or having the energy or determination to take care of chores and family.
- Loss of energy: Although some depressed people may show movements that suggest activity, in reality, the energy they have is minimal.
- Anxiety: Sometimes we think that anxiety and depression are two opposite and incompatible poles, and nothing further. The fear and insecurity that occur in depression generate anxiety. Get to know the .
- Difficult to focus and make decisions.
- Does not see the future with hope and that makes her feel heartbroken and want to throw in the towel. There is no light at the end of her tunnel.
- Forget the good times of the past to hold on to. She has a mental filter that makes her see herself, the world, and the future negatively.
- Negative and hopeless thoughts Frecounts: It is common for ideas related to death to appear.
All of these symptoms lead to others such as (difficulty sleeping) or hypersomnia (excessive sleeping), lack of appetite or excess of it and decreased sexual desire. The symptoms presented by a person with depression significantly affect theirs, their social relationships and their work.
Causes of depressive personality
To different factors that can lead to depression. Let’s see what the main causes of depressive personality are:
- Major life changes: any big change in life affects us. Furthermore, if we do not have the necessary tools, it will affect us to a greater extent.
- Imbalance in neurotransmitters: Deficits in brain cells such as serotonin, dopamine or oxytocin (related to pleasure) cause depression. That is why, sometimes, there is no specific reason for the sadness and the rest of the symptoms that appear.
- Hormonal changes: During the menstrual cycle, adolescence, or menopause, hormonal changes occur that affect the mood of those who suffer from them, which may cause a depressive episode.
- Economic, social and/or family problems: the problems in our lives, especially if they are serious, can cause the first symptoms of depression to appear.
- Poorly managed duel: The beginning of grief resembles depression, but it is not. If grief is not faced correctly, or it lasts too long, then it can lead to depression. In this article, you will see the .
- Being under stress for a long period: Continued stress, whether at work, family or due to illness, usually leads to depression.
- Genetics: having direct family members who have had a depressive disorder or bipolar disorder increases the likelihood of suffering from depression.
- Drugs abuse: Drugs directly affect brain connections and their consumption is associated with depression during periods of abstinence. Which in turn increases consumption to avoid the discomfort of the symptoms of depression and start over. The addict enters a circle that is difficult to get out of. In this article, we tell you the.
How to treat a person with depression
If you have never had a depressive episode, it is very difficult for you to understand how a depressed person feels. We constantly say things like “I don’t understand why she is depressed if she has everything”, “I don’t know why she is depressed if everyone loves her” or “why doesn’t she know how to appreciate the good things in life?”
The depressed person has no real ability to see good things, of coping with problems that, if he were well, would seem minuscule. If you are blindfolded with a dark cloth, you cannot see no matter how much you open your eyes. If you have depression you cannot feel pleasure or joy, at least until you learn some techniques that will make you, step by step, begin to enjoy something a little bit.
So how to treat a person with depression? The worst thing you can tell a person with depression is not to be sad. That person doesn’t want to be sad, who likes to be like that? And by telling him things like that, you only make him feel guilty for being sad. Another comment to avoid is the wonderful “stop the nonsense.”
Depression is a disorder that affects more than 300 million people in the world, which affects the normal development of the lives of these people and the people around them and which, in many cases, ends in death. Therefore, a person with depression deserves support and above all respect.
How to help a person with depression
- Learn about depression: The best thing you can do if a person around you has a depressive episode is to educate yourself well about depression. This way you will have an idea of what depression really is and you will avoid making a mistake or making that person feel worse than they already feel.
- Accompany and support the depressed person: be with him or her so that he or she does not feel alone, suggest quiet plans to do together or try to find some small thing that he or she likes or motivates. Remember happy moments from the past and assure him that he will feel that way again.
- Have a lot of patience: It can be complicated, it can take time, so be patient and don’t get discouraged. Your help could be decisive in his recovery.
In this article, you will find more information about .
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- American Psychiatric Association (2014). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Madrid: Panamericana Medical Editorial.
- Martell, C; Dimidjian, S; Herman-Dunn, R (2010). Behavioral activation for depression: a clinical guideline. Bilbao: Desclée de Brouwer.