What Major Depressive Disorder Feels Like

When To Get Help For Depression

If youve been experiencing multiple signs or symptoms of depression and feel like its progressing or has progressed to the point that its now interfering with your life, it might be time to get help. Your doctor or a mental health professional can help you identify if what youre experiencing is truly depression. They can help you identify which, if any, form of depression you may be dealing with. They can also help you come up with a therapy or treatment plan to learn some coping skills and techniques on how to handle depression.

Depression symptoms can increase, intensify, or worsen dramatically over time. If youre wondering how does depression feel, and questioning your symptoms, take our free depression test.

Bisma Anwar, MA, MSc, LMHC

Reviewed On: September 23, 2021

What Bipolar Disorder Depression Feels Like

Hopelessness. Loss of interest and energy. Difficulty sleeping. Trouble concentrating. Weight changes. Suicidal thoughts. All phrases used in therapy while seeking help.

We strive to share insights based on diverse experiences without stigma or shame. This is a powerful voice.

Those are just some of the symptoms listed for a bipolar disorder depressive episode in the recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders .

But this doesnt fully capture peoples experiences with bipolar disorder and depressive episodes. What do they actually feel like? How do people cope?

How To Cope With A Depressive Episode

At the onset of a major depressive episode, it can feel hopeless, as if there is nothing that can be done. An individual facing this may feel like there is no point in trying to do anything to lessen the severity of the episode or turn it around. There are things that can be done, though. It is important to take these steps to cope with a depressive episode, because they can limit the symptoms and even reduce the duration of the episode:

Major depressive episodes are most often part of a recurring, chronic mental illness. Some people may only ever experience one episode in their lives, but most people have multiple episodes. Understanding what it feels like to go through one of these episodes, as well as what may trigger one, is important. Being more aware allows an individual to take steps to check back in with a therapist, seek out support from family, and to engage in proper self-care to mitigate the severity of an episode.

Recommended Reading: How To Know If Your Dog Is Depressed

Seek Support For Symptoms Of Depression

Depression is often not recognised and can go on for months or even years if left untreated. Its important to seek support as early as possible, as the sooner a person gets treatment, the sooner they can recover.

Untreated depression can have many negative effects on a persons life, including serious relationship and family problems, difficulty finding and holding down a job, and drug and alcohol problems.

There is no one proven way that people recover from depression. However, there is a range of effective treatments and health professionals who can help people on the road to recovery.

There are also many things that people with depression can do for themselves to help them recover and stay well. The important thing is to find the right treatment and the right health professional for a persons needs.

Mdd Amplifies The Bad And Dampens The Good

MDD is an amplifier and a dampener. It amplifies the bad things in life, the tiniest problems. Minor inconveniences become impossible barriers. Major problems become catastrophes that cannot be overcome.

It dampens the good. Achievements are colored with a black lining. You always wonder when they will fall apart. It always seems that things fall apart. It dampens things that should bring you joy, dampens your spirits, dampens what little motivation you might have once had.

It keeps you from getting up in the morning because the more sleep you get the less suffering you have to endure.

It keeps you from talking to friends and family because youre so so so tired of bringing them down with you. It keeps you from getting the help you need because you cant even pick up the phone and make the call.

Thats what so many people just dont get when it comes to MDD. They think that its just a situation where you should just go get some help.

And its not.

Its just not.

It just doesnt make sense.

Also Check: Depression Medication That Wont Cause Weight Gain

Know The Signs Of A Major Depressive Episode

It is very common for a person with depression to be unaware that they are entering a depressive episode. Recognizing the signs in oneself is challenging, but it helps to be able to see an episode coming. By being more aware of the return of depression, an individual can better deal with it: asking for help, reaching out to socialize, taking self-care measures, practicing stress-relief strategies, or making extra therapy appointments. Being aware of a coming depressive episode isnt easy, but there are practices that can help:

Read Also: Does Depression Ever Go Away

Diagnosing Major Depressive Disorder

If you or a loved one have been feeling depressed and low, seek help as soon as possible. You can reach out to a mental healthcare provider or contact your primary care doctor for a diagnosis or referral.

Your healthcare provider will ask you a series of questions that will likely cover your symptoms, thoughts and feelings, and medical history. They may need to perform a physical or psychological exam, or conduct lab tests, in order to rule out other health conditions that can cause similar symptoms.

Your healthcare provider will determine whether or not your symptoms meet the diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder, which include:

• Having a persistently depressed mood and lack of interest in activities
• Having five or more symptoms of depression
• Having symptoms every day, almost all day
• Having symptoms for over two weeks
• Being unable to function like you did before, due to the symptoms

Recommended Reading: How To End A Depressive Episode

Depression Is Different From Sadness Or Grief/bereavement

The death of a loved one, loss of a job or the ending of a relationship are difficult experiences for a person to endure. It is normal for feelings of sadness or grief to develop in response to such situations. Those experiencing loss often might describe themselves as being depressed.

But being sad is not the same as having depression. The grieving process is natural and unique to each individual and shares some of the same features of depression. Both grief and depression may involve intense sadness and withdrawal from usual activities. They are also different in important ways:

• In grief, painful feelings come in waves, often intermixed with positive memories of the deceased. In major depression, mood and/or interest are decreased for most of two weeks.
• In grief, self-esteem is usually maintained. In major depression, feelings of worthlessness and self-loathing are common.
• In grief, thoughts of death may surface when thinking of or fantasizing about joining the deceased loved one. In major depression, thoughts are focused on ending ones life due to feeling worthless or undeserving of living or being unable to cope with the pain of depression.

Grief and depression can co-exist For some people, the death of a loved one, losing a job or being a victim of a physical assault or a major disaster can lead to depression. When grief and depression co-occur, the grief is more severe and lasts longer than grief without depression.

Things You Will Dislike About Why Do I Always Feel Angry And Depression

First, response prices and time to reach response did not vary between groups, recommending that the trajectory of improvement did not differ between those with and also those without atypical features. Second, departure scores did not vary when differences in extent were included as covariates in the outcome analysis. Time to remission by existence or lack of depression with irregular attributes. The characterization of atypical depression as including reversed vegetative signs has been very useful in the recognition of the unique nature of the disorder.

This tends to be seen by others, who will suggest them to decrease so they can be understood. Friends and also family members might see their strategies as unwise, impractical, or dangerous, but patients in the hold of mania will certainly neglect this feedback and commonly lash out as well as come to be cranky and why do i always feel angry and depression defensive. At work, if there are differences with in charge, there can be loud debates, and the individual with mania can impulsively give up or obtain discharged, which they later regret. Specific therapy will certainly be established by your teens healthcare carrier based on a full assessment.

You May Like: How Can I Treat My Depression

Should You Worry About Antidepressant Withdrawal

insomniaPsychiatric Times

More to the point, while you should slowly stop your antidepressant with the help of your doctor, antidepressants do not cause dependence and withdrawal like other substances. Unlike substances that are known to cause addiction, such as alcohol, opioids, and barbiturates, people don’t crave antidepressants. You dont get high from them, and they arent intentionally or compulsively overused. Serious reactions like the seizures and agitation that can follow sudden withdrawal from addictive substances are unheard of when these antidepressants are tapered gradually, note the authors of the Psychiatric Times report.

What You Can Do: Daily Habits Make A Difference

These healthy lifestyle habits, along with professional treatment, can help you manage the symptoms of major depression:

Treatment Works. SAMHSA Can Help You Find It.

Effective treatments for major depressive disorder are available in your area. The earlier that you begin treatment, the greater likelihood of a better outcome. For confidential and anonymous help finding a specialty program near you, visit SAMHSAs Early Serious Mental Illness Treatment Locator.

If you, or someone you know, need help to stop using substances whether the problem is methamphetamine, alcohol or another drug call SAMHSAs National Helpline at or TTY: , or text your zip code to 435748 , or use the SAMHSAs Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator to get help.

Don’t Miss: Is Social Media Linked To Depression

Depression Survivors Describe What It Really Feels Like

Depression sufferers arent merely sad. Many describe the experience as agonizing isolation or numbness.

When psychiatrists and psychologists test people for depression, they ask, Do you feel sad, blue, unhappy, or down in the dumps? Do you feel tired, low on energy, unable to concentrate? Too many yeses gets you a diagnosis.

People with depression have a much richer vocabulary for describing their anguish, one that rarely matches the clinical observations.

When hell feels normalMany describe a heaviness and difficulty getting out of bed. When Jennisse Peatick, 36, of Hillsborough, N.J., gets down, I am in the bottom of a well and it is a very gray cloudy day and I am looking up at this insurmountable cloudy day and I cant climb out, she says. It is silent and very isolating.

For patients like Terrie Williams, 53, of New York City, depression sneaks up so gradually it starts to feel normal. She had launched a high-profile public relations company that counted Eddie Murphy and Anita Baker among its clients. She organized exciting red carpet events and attended glamorous parties, but shed fall into bed utterly exhausted. Mornings were hell, she says.

But after a while hell started to feel almost normal, she explains: I would wake up with an overwhelming sense of dread and anxiety. I would lay there for hours, sometimes in a fetal position, crying. I would pull a sheet over my head.

Dont Miss: Who Do You See For Anxiety And Depression

What Are The Symptoms Of Depression And How Is It Diagnosed

The NHS recommends that you should see your GP if you experience symptoms of depression for most of the day, every day, for more than 2 weeks.

Doctors make decisions about diagnosis based on manuals. The manual used by NHS doctors is the International Classification of Diseases .

When you see a doctor they will look for the symptoms that are set out in the ICD-10 guidance. You do not have to have all of these to be diagnosed with depression. You might have just experience some of them.

Some symptoms of depression are:

• low mood, feeling sad, irritable or angry,
• having less energy to do certain things,
• losing interest or enjoyment in activities you used to enjoy,
• reduced concentration,

You may also find that with low mood you:

• feel less pleasure from things,
• feel more agitated,
• find your thoughts and movements slow down, and
• have thoughts of self-harm or suicide.

Your doctor should also ask about any possible causes of depression. For example, they may want to find out if youve experienced anything traumatic recently which could be making you feel this way.

There are no physical tests for depression. But the doctors may do some tests to check if you have any physical problems. For example, an underactive thyroid can cause depression.

On the NHS website, they have a self-assessment test which can help you to assess whether you are living with depression: www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/clinical-depression/overview/

Recommended Reading: How To Deal With Stress And Anxiety And Depression

What You Need To Know About Major Depressive Disorder Treatments

The most important thing to know about major depressive disorder treatments is that every person is different and will require a different combination of treatments in order to experience relief from their symptoms.

The first step in finding relief from major depressive disorder is to connect with a healthcare professional who can evaluate your condition and make recommendations about medications and treatments that might be helpful.

YANA is an online mental health service that connects patients to healthcare professionals and provides affordable, quality mental healthcare from the comfort of your home. Getting started with YANA takes just five minutes, and youll be matched with a doctor who can help you get the treatment you need quickly and discreetly.

Finding mental healthcare that you can actually afford can feel overwhelming, especially when youre suffering from major depressive disorder, but YANA makes it easy and convenient to get the care you need.

If youre not quite ready to get started and want a little more information on what you may be going through, we encourage you to click through the YANA blog for helpful mental health resources.

Major Depression A Chronic Illness

Major depression is a serious mental illness. It is classified as a mood disorder, which means that it is characterized by negative patterns in thoughts and emotions that dont line up with a persons actual circumstances. It is also a chronic mental illness. This means it is not curable and that it can come and go, sometimes for a persons entire life. Someone diagnosed with depression may feel fine for a long period of time and then have symptoms. The period during which someone experiences the symptoms is called a depressive episode.

Most people with major depression live with it as a chronic illness. Episodes come and go, although they may be made less severe and less frequent with good treatment. In some cases, though, a person may experience a singular episode of depression, just once in a lifetime. Often these episodes of depression are triggered by a situational event: a death in the family, the loss of a job or relationship, or some kind of trauma, like a physical assault. This single depressive episode may be just as serious as those experienced by someone with recurrent major depression, with all the same symptoms and persistence.

Don’t Miss: Am I Going Through Depression

What Treatments Are Available For Major Depressive Disorder

There are three primary types of treatments for major depressive disorder: medication, talk therapy, and lifestyle changes. People with major depressive disorder often use a combination of treatments in order to successfully treat their symptoms.

Medication

Antidepressant medications are among the most popular medications in the United States, which speaks to just how common depression really is.

There are four main classifications of antidepressants, but the two most popular and well known are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors . These medications work by inhibiting the breakdown of certain neurotransmitters in the brain. SSRIs work on serotonin, while SNRIs work on serotonin and norepinephrine, resulting in higher levels of the neurotransmitters.

Neurotransmitters like serotonin and norepinephrine are responsible for important brain functions, such as improving mood and well-being. Common types of SSRIs include Lexapro and Prozac, while popular SNRIs include Cymbalta and Effexor. Other categories of antidepressants include tricyclic antidepressants and other atypical antidepressants, such as Wellbutrin.

Talk Therapy

Talk therapy, also known as psychotherapy, can be very helpful for people with major depressive disorder. During talk therapy, patients speak one on one with a therapist who can help them work through feelings associated with their depression.

Lifestyle Changes

Severities Of Clinical Depression

Clinical depression can often come on gradually. So it can be difficult to notice when something is wrong. You might try to cope with the symptoms without realising you’re unwell. It can sometimes take a friend or family member to suggest something is wrong.

The severity of clinical depression depends on how much impact it has on your daily life:

• mild clinical depression has some impact
• moderate clinical depression has a significant impact
• severe clinical depression almost impossible to get through daily life

You can have clinical depression and other mental health disorders. For example, anxiety, psychosis or other difficulties.

Read Also: What Is A Good Antidepressant For Anxiety And Depression