From the author: published on the website A modern person is full of a variety of problems: difficulties in completing work tasks, difficulties with sincere communication, as well as numerous obstacles to achieving goals. Some people manage to cope with all this quite successfully, but for others this burden turns out to be excessive, and they face depression. The symptoms of this insidious disease are numerous and varied, they hide behind each other so skillfully that it is sometimes difficult to “catch” depression in the act. It is worth mentioning that clinical depression is a serious illness that necessarily requires medical intervention. You should not be afraid of turning to a psychotherapist: the doctor does not have the goal of “getting you hooked” on medications or making you his patient forever. He, just like you, is interested in the successful outcome of treatment, namely in your happiness and mental well-being. Unfortunately, a psychotherapist is not a magician, and without your desire and some effort on your part, the recovery process may be delayed. Therefore, read our article, which fully describes the main signs, as well as methods of self-help for depression. Symptoms of depression: SOS! Signs of depression are difficult to miss, so the fear of some people to “silently” get sick is absolutely groundless. They are quite obvious both to the patient himself and to his loved ones. The most important thing to note is the tangible decrease in the quality of life of a person suffering from depression. What are the specific manifestations of this disease? Inability to experience joy In general, joy is one of the basic human emotions along with fear, anger, interest and sadness. Like everyone else, it brings us certain benefits: it is from joy that we draw positive energy. It gives us strength for new beginnings and achievements. Anhedonia, or loss of the ability to experience joy, is one of the most important signs of depression. What does it look like? The world seems to turn gray while other colors disappear. No pleasant excitement, no revival - everything around is dry and lifeless. Even if a million dollars suddenly fell from the sky, it would not evoke any emotions in a person suffering from depression - and all because he is incapable of experiencing joy. Unfortunately, with this symptom, when it is severe enough, nothing can be done - only psychotherapeutic assistance and antidepressants prescribed by a doctor. They promote the production of serotonin, which is responsible for positive emotions. However, if you notice only the first signs of impending trouble, then you can try a simple mental hygiene exercise. Sometimes it happens that you have the ability to experience joy - you simply ignore such moments. In this case, you need to do the following: every time something good happens (but you can always assess the situation with your mind?), pay attention to it and concentrate on joy, tune in to it. If you catch yourself at a fairly early stage of anhedonia, there is a good chance that you will resolve the problem on your own. Decreased mood The inability to experience joy would seem to explain everything that happens to a person suffering from depression. But no! Anhedonia and low mood are not the same thing. Agree, it’s one thing when you don’t feel hungry and quite another thing when you’re full. It’s the same here: the symptoms of depression include not just a lack of joy, but also melancholy, sadness, sadness and depression. A person constantly experiences mental anguish and suffering, sometimes it is so strong that he even thinks about suicide. Can you imagine how much the soul hurts? This is an incomparable negative experience. Many who experienced it would rather accept physical pain. That is why, in severe cases, this disorder is corrected exclusively with antidepressants. However, things don't always go that way.far: sometimes depression and melancholy are associated with something specific, with something that you can get rid of on your own: with a breakup; with boredom; with the loss of a big dream; with a quarrel between you and your best friend; with a personal crisis; with problems at work; with illnesses; There can be a lot of reasons for this condition. The most important thing you must do in this situation is to find the source of sadness and get rid of it. Ways to deal with sadness vary depending on what and how much it upsets you. Sometimes a banal vacation and switching to some interesting activity is enough, sometimes you need a more serious source of positive emotions - new love or a fulfilled desire. In any case, if depression has not completely consumed your soul, saying goodbye to it is up to you. Increased anxiety is another symptom that may indicate illness. Increased anxiety is when you start to worry about everything in the world. You call your loved one and ask how he got to work. You go to your boss and carefully find out if he is going to accidentally fire you - because you are so afraid of this. You are worried that the store will give you low-quality products, the doctor will overlook a malignant “sore”, and the day after tomorrow the end of the world will come! All this together constitutes signs of an increase in anxiety levels. In general, depression and anxiety do not always go hand in hand, but this happens quite often. This “neighborhood” can be explained by the fact that a melancholic person’s level of security and comfort decreases, which is why he begins to be afraid of everything in the world. So what should we do about it? You can use the following psychological techniques on your own: Draw the most terrible scenario for the development of events Assess the likelihood of its occurrence, turning to your own experience and logic Estimate the duration of possible negative consequences, realizing their finiteness Think about positive ways to resolve the situation Narrowing the range of interests If before a person poked his nose in everywhere, he constantly tried what - new, he was curious after all, but now he’s not interested in anything - he should start worrying. Perhaps this is a temporary crisis, or perhaps one of the symptoms of the disease. It is human nature to show interest in everything that surrounds him - this is a normal manifestation of his activity. Everyone should have something that attracts them: books, films, sports, communication, fishing, collecting, computer games at worst. It's worth starting to worry if it all starts to disappear. A depressed patient is very indicative in this regard: nothing can captivate him, not even an atomic explosion at his side. Narrowing the range of interests can also be a sign of revaluation of values ​​- in this case, you just need time to find new activities. It’s worth trying something unusual that you weren’t into before - maybe you’ve changed a lot and now you want exactly this. Or is it worth returning to something that you did back in school - for example, drawing, because now you are already able to understand that this is not at all stupid childishness - funny pictures in the margins of a notebook. Reducing the number of needs “Tell me what you want it, and I’ll tell you who you are,” this is how one famous phrase sounds with minor corrections. And this really works, because many psychologists, when talking about personality structure, always mention needs. A person consists of his desires, in many ways he is a reflection of them, and nothing can be done about it. We almost always want something, but not when we are depressed. Apathy and lack of needs (or a sharp decrease in their number) are a very important diagnostic symptom. Love, friendship, communication, the desire to have fun or do something interesting - all this goes somewhere. In especially severe cases, a person does not even want to eat or drink - he becomes so apathetic. This is largely due to the fact that to form needs some kind of energy is needed, and with depression it is completelyabsent. It is very difficult to do anything about this condition on your own - in almost all cases you need to consult a specialist. However, you can make some effort to focus on your needs. It often happens that a person does not understand that he has a needy state, cannot distinguish one desire from another, or does not find an object to satisfy it. In all these cases, you need to carefully focus on what sensations and experiences you experience at the moment when you want something. They are markers of the onset of desire, and also contribute to its better understanding. Listen to yourself and do not forget to satisfy your needs, otherwise they will no longer be clearly felt. Negative attitudes For the most part, we experience the world very rationally through the prism of our own consciousness and worldview. What are they made of? Just from certain attitudes and thoughts. The head of an ordinary person is filled with a variety of contents: there are neutral, positive and negative judgments, and for the most part they balance each other. But when a person becomes depressed, most of the attitudes become negative, and it is not clear what comes first - the egg or the chicken. Either negative thoughts underlie depression, or are its consequence - in any case, this is a symptom that cannot be ignored. The good news is that you can work with this problem yourself. The main problem with negative automatic thoughts is the difficulties associated with their awareness. They are reflexive, curtailed, compressed, fleeting, stereotypical and beyond conscious control. For example, the idea that if you fail an exam, you will become a complete nonentity, the whole world will collapse, and you will never have happiness flashes through your brain almost instantly. It is difficult to track, but it is quite possible - with proper training and effort. Every time something upsets you, note it and find the negative automatic thought behind the idea. After this, make a list of alternative positive or neutral statements, and little by little your consciousness will learn to do this automatically and will stop driving you into the abyss of depression. Pessimistic forecasts This symptom is somewhat different from negative automatic thoughts. Pessimism is easier to spot and shows up much more clearly in how you perceive possible developments in your life. Of course, a depressed person believes that everything will be very, very bad. When applying for a job, he knows in advance that he will not be offered the position. While on the first date, he understands that there will be no continuation. Speaking about the fate of the country, he puts an end to its future in advance. And so in everything, absolutely in all areas of his life. It is quite difficult to get rid of a pessimistic worldview. The attention and perception of such a person are very selective: he does not notice the good, but overly concentrates on the bad. What needs to be done to break this chain? Do everything the other way around. Yes, at first it will be difficult, because the usual model of behavior is clearer and more comfortable - this always happens with changes in life and thinking. But if you train yourself to be optimistic day after day, sooner or later it will arise by itself. Therefore, every time something bad happens, tell yourself: “This will pass” and switch to another activity, and in good moments, “pat yourself on the head” and focus your attention on them. Low self-esteemPessimism and negative attitudes spread to all areas a person’s life, including himself. In general, how is self-esteem formed? It consists of the difference between what we are in reality and some ideas: our internal ideals, the expectations of others, our own dreams and goals. If the discrepancies are small, then self-esteem remains adequate; if they are large, then it begins to fall lower and lower. As in the case of negative attitudes, it is not clear what came first -depression or negative self-image. Sometimes people become sad because they don't succeed in something, and sometimes they don't succeed in something because they are depressed. In any case, you need to work on self-esteem. Auto-training is very good in this matter: look at yourself in the mirror every day and repeat something good and life-affirming: “I am the most charming and attractive,” “I have a sharp mind, and I quickly grasp everything,” “I achieve my goals with ease.” goals”, etc. ... The main thing is to do this regularly, and the effect will not be long in coming. Difficulties associated with decision making Every day we have to make choices. Sometimes it turns out to be big and important, for example, choosing a president or a job, and sometimes it turns out to be small and simple: what to cook for dinner, what color socks to buy for your son, or what photo to put on your avatar on a social network. In each of these situations, you have to make some kind of decision, abandoning other alternatives. People who are depressed have great difficulty with this process. Judge for yourself, they do not have the necessary energy, and the moment of choice for them is associated with losses, which are inevitable when refusing any option. Therefore, you can easily see how, for example, a girl suffers if she needs to choose what to wear today. Difficulties associated with making decisions are a rather ambiguous situation. On the one hand, each of us has found ourselves in it at least once in our lives, but, on the other hand, we still need to make a choice. In mild cases, the “pros” and “cons” method helps well: you take a sheet of paper, divide it into columns, and in each column you write down all the pros and cons of possible alternatives. Consider everything, even the feelings and emotions you have about these options. Decrease in activity level Every person is characterized by activity. It is necessary for survival and procreation, exploration of the world and development of society. Each of us has our own, habitual level of this activity: for some, trying to fit in forty-eight hours into a day is the norm, while others consider an eight-hour working day to be too much. Fluctuations in energy cannot be considered in isolation from individual characteristics, because what is natural for one is not normal for another. With depression, the level of activity suffers greatly: a person becomes passive, lack of initiative and inert. Total laziness awakens in him, which concerns all areas, for example, personal care, so those around him often notice the “dull” eyes of such a person, to which is added a careless appearance. The level of your activity depends on many factors: the general state of the nervous system, metabolism substances, vitality, daily routine and personal characteristics. And if you can’t do anything with the first points without the help of a doctor, then the last ones are in your hands. Physical activity has a very beneficial effect on energy: regular exercise helps increase the level of endorphins in the blood, and, of course, tones you up. Having things to do also prevents you from falling into apathy: have you probably noticed that it is much more difficult to get organized and do something on an empty day or on a weekend than on a busy one? Therefore, do not allow yourself to be lazy. Negative changes in mental processes Everyone knows that at different moments in life our attention, perception, memory, thinking and speech function differently: sometimes they work at their maximum, and sometimes their efficiency does not reach fifty percent. The human body is a complex and finely tuned system, which, unfortunately, can malfunction - as a rule, this happens at the time of illness. And depression is the clearest example of this. Being in a state of depression, it is easy to notice how much your perception changes: you note only failures, disappointments and negative events. Even in the dark, you manage to read the word death on a poorly visible sign. It is difficult for you to concentrate on anything, on the one hand, but on the other handanother, switching your attention from one thing to another can also be difficult. Memorizing is very difficult for you, as is retrieving something from memory, and most often all sorts of sad things are stored in your memory. Thinking becomes sluggish and inhibited: it is difficult for you to come up with something new or cope with the usual complexity. You are very slow to think – as if someone forgot to oil your “thinking gears”. All these are symptoms of depression. Most of them can be dealt with only with the help of appropriate medications. In mild cases, all kinds of training are very effective: mnemonics, logical puzzles, exercises for concentration, etc. ... You can do them yourself or under the guidance of a psychotherapist. Insomnia How hard it is to live without sleep... At this time, the human body must rest and relax, gain strength and process everything that has been accumulated during the day. Depression is almost always accompanied by insomnia, although it is very specific: if people with an anxiety disorder have difficulty falling asleep, then with depression they are bothered by waking up early. You can often observe how a person jumps up before dawn - at four, five, six o'clock - and then cannot fall asleep. Insomnia with depression is associated with various reasons: these are disturbances at the biochemical level and mental disharmony. Do you agree that it’s not easy to fall asleep when something is oppressing you from within? In the case of real clinical depression, taking antidepressants is indicated: this is the only way to start sleeping and get out of the vicious circle. However, sometimes we are kept from falling asleep by various troubles in life. In this case, you need to have a relaxation session before going to bed: eat, walk for an hour in the fresh air, read a good book or watch an interesting movie (just not too action-packed, otherwise you will get overexcited!), think about something good, for example, about the sea - and in bed. If everything is done correctly, we can confidently say that Morpheus’s embrace will not take long to arrive. Fluctuations in appetite “I am what I eat” is a very correct saying. Appetite is the most important vital indicator, because a person needs food to maintain energy. That is why fluctuations in appetite are very telling: if it has deteriorated, then something is wrong with your body. Depression always affects appetite in one way or another. Usually it is signaled by a sharp decrease in it: a person becomes very lazy to eat, and he doesn’t really want to eat. This is not surprising, because he does not waste energy anywhere, so the need for it disappears. However, there are people whose depression manifests itself as increased appetite. Usually in such cases we are not talking about clinical depression - rather, about eating disorders. Such people like to “eat up” their troubles, and when they are sad, the best medicine is a piece of chocolate cake. All kinds of diseases The most insidious symptom of depression. Any general practitioner has such a patient: he always goes to him with various complaints about all sorts of ailments, but the tests turn out to be very good. What's the matter here? The fact is that depression is a cunning lady who loves to hide behind the symptoms of other illnesses. They also like to call it hidden or larved. It’s worth thinking about if you recognize yourself in a similar situation. Be sure to ask your general practitioner for a referral to a local psychiatrist or psychotherapist. Don’t be afraid of this: he will simply carry out the appropriate diagnostic measures, and, if everything is fine with you, he will let you go with God. Well, if not, he will select adequate treatment, and all your “sores” will calmly disappear. So, it is in these symptoms that depressive syndrome manifests itself. If you find some mild signs in yourself, this is not yet a reason to sound the alarm - perhaps you are just going through a difficult period in your life, and you can cope with it on your own (we wrote above how this can be done). However, if your condition begins to give you?