Depression, which was once thought to be merely an unfortunate state of mind for which the depressed person was largely responsible himself, is now recognized as a very common and painful disease, for which, fortunately, highly successful types of medical treatment have become available.  Depression seems to have had many victims throughout history, in all types of societies.  In the United States today, millions of people are known to suffer from it.

What are the Symptoms of Depression?

If you have depression, you almost surely have feelings of pessimism, hopelessness and sadness.  To use a popular work, you feel "blue" most or all of the time.  Some patients are merely vaguely aware that they do not seem to be getting as much fun out of life as other people.  Others are so thoroughly depressed that they describe themselves as feeling like weeping if anyone so much as looks at them.

Perhaps these feelings are particularly disturbing because you see no reason for them; everything is going smoothly in your life, yet you still feel depressed.  On the other hand, you may think that the circumstances of your life are making you sad - while your family and friends insist that your situation is not really that bad or that you are mistaken in thinking you are unfortunate.

There are several symptoms of depression besides these feelings of pessimism and sadness, and some of the symptoms do not even resemble what is popularly thought of as being blue or depressed.  For example:

Poor Concentration:  You may have difficulty concentrating.  Perhaps you often read a newspaper or listen to a television program only to find you have not been able to retain anything of what you read, saw or heard.

Fatigue:  You are quite likely to get tired very easily and lack the drive to get things done the way you used to.

Insomnia:  You may want to sleep a great deal but at the same time, when you go to bed you may not be able to get to sleep.  It is even more common to awaken very easily feeling exhausted, frightened and depressed.

Remorse:  It is not unusual to feel guilty about things in the past that you think you should have done and did not do - or the opposite, to feel guilty about things you did do and feel you should not have done.