Depression is often thought of as simply feeling sad. Someone may say they're feeling "depressed" after having a bad day at work or watching a melancholy movie. The truth is that there's much more to depression than just feeling down. Whereas typical sadness is situational and often goes away on its own, depression is chronic and persists even when external circumstances improve.Though most individuals with depression first begin experiencing symptoms in adolescence or early adulthood, onset can occur at any age. Sometimes onset can be triggered by a life change, traumatic events or even extreme stress; often, however, it seems to appear for no reason. 6.7% of the US population suffers from depression. Women are nearly twice as likely as men to have the disorder.
Signs and symptoms of depression vary wildly from person to person. Two people may both have depression but have hardly any symptoms in common. For this reason, it's important to be familiar with all the possible symptoms. Below are the ten most common signs of depression and how to identify them.
