This information is sourced from NHS, Psychology tools, and Marie Curie
Symptoms of depression include:
- not being able to find pleasure in the things you usually enjoy
- feeling sad, guilty, helpless and worthless
- feeling constantly tired, irritable and unable to concentrate
- thinking about ending your life
- changes to your appetite or weight
- difficulty sleeping
- losing your sex drive
Many symptoms of depression are similar to symptoms of serious illness ( e.g. lack of energy, poor appetite, difficulty sleeping).
Depression is different from appropriate sadness and demoralisation (feeling bleak about the future but still able to enjoy the present moment).
There are many helpful treatments for depression including antidepressants. These can help to improve mood but can also help sleep and appetite. So if you are feeling low is really important to discuss this with your doctor or nurse to ensure you receive the right treatment.
Self-help resources:
These approaches to try yourself can be really helpful in mild depression or mood disturbance.
The NHS website contains useful information for recognising low mood and some initial steps you can take and when to seek extra help.
Available to download on the right is a very comprehensive self-help guide which contains some brief thought exercises to work through and signposts to national resources with a very good reading list at the end.
This page on 'behavioural activation' signposts a useful approach to actively manage low mood.