Five warning signs of Depression
For many, the warning signs of Depression developing yet again are all too familiar. Is that true for you?
Heading into Depression – what are the warning signs?
Any of us can become depressed. If our life is not working as we need it to and we don’t know what do to about that. Then, we will begin to worry and to dream a lot. And this will just makes our situation worse – mainly because we are getting more and more exhausted. We are not seeing the wood for the trees. And to our great horror, we may well find our life is disintegrating further still. The warning signs of your depression will be multiplying.
A hopeful message for your depression
Hope is the message of my website. This is not to make light of how awful a depression can be but because my website points to depression recovery. Moreover, this is a recovery without medication, without special diets or supplements.
The depression recovery that is there for most of you is neither a quick fix nor will take too long. We are talking of a month or so or perhaps even less.
What often happens and this may be true for you is that you are always living with the memory of that first depression (or of a previous depression). It was utterly terrible and nightmarish. So what happens is that if we then begin to feel a little stretched or tired, we begin to panic. We are scared that we might be losing it again and falling again into a pit of depression. And that can just bring the depression back.
So what are the signs warning you of depression? What should you be watching out for? And what can you do about it?
Five warning signs for depression – by Human Givens
First Warning Sign: Not feeling quite right – on edge, a little anxious or angry or scared
Feeling emotions such as these is of course normal and a potentially healthy reaction to life events. Nowhere was it written that we should never feel this way. And if these feelings are doing their job, then they will be prompting you to act to deal with the event or thought or change that has happened out there. Say you have an exam coming up, then anxiety feelings could be prompting you to study for them. Or say you have a difficult interview coming up…. you get the idea?
All emotions are communication to activate an action which in some way or other should be helping you. You might not be aware of the emotion – it could be an unconscious feeling. But nonetheless what is wanted by the emotion, like a young child tugging at your coat, is that you do something.
So are you doing something or just feeling the feeling? And if the latter, you should be trying to stand separately from it. You need to become curious about it and to wonder what it is saying and then what you might do about it. And definitely not be lost in the middle of the emotion.
And if this is very hard, then the depression is definitely setting in
Second Warning Sign: Being tired
Tiredness can just creep up on you and particularly in the mornings when you wake up. You can’t seem to get over it however much you rest and then your head can get muggy and your concentration can begin to go bit. Readers of my depression pages will know why the tiredness is happening. But in summarey, the worrying is leading to too much dreaming which is exhausting and pushing out the deep wave restful sleep that is needed.
Again the answer to this realisation is action and doing– and pretty much anything will do.
Third Warning Sign: You are aware of that big thing that has happened
Has something out there happened to change your previous equilibrium for the worst? Maybe it was a relationship breakup or development, a loss of some kind, or a disappointment. We are talking about an event or occurrence that impinges of what is very big and important about your life . Something that is important for your safety and control, your satisfying work or close relationships.
You must think about this. How much is this dominating your thoughts and emotions? And what can you do or is the anger and loss too much to bear?
Are you aware that your human needs are not being well met?
Fourth Warning Sign: Your head is filling up
All depressed people experience this lack of control as their head fills up with thoughts, worries, rumination around what ifs and what has been and so on. For many this is the most terrifying development of all – because we cannot escape from our heads.
What is needed is that you take action on this as quickly as you can. And luckily that is easier than you may think. What you must do is to begin to distract yourself, to get involved in activities that take up your attention.
At one level it is about facing the fear of what is happening. And to realise that you can be patient and wait until you are feeling a better before dealing with all that are crowding in.
Fifth Warning Sign: Old patterns and ways of coping are emerging, as if out of the woodwork
These are all of your familiar but unwelcome friends. That when the pressure builds, you hide away or you just don’t do what you need to do, you lose self confidence or become angry and mawkish. You are eating too much or not enough or drinking again or obsessing. You will know how it is for you.
So what can you do? Well action is important. But understand that these patterns are not the cause. You will get better when you are ready.
Do these Depression warning signs resonate?
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Overcoming Depression Links
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What is Depression
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