The Often Neglected Signs of Depression in Women

The Often Neglected Signs of Depression in Women : Depression can have a major effect on your mental health. It is something that can keep you down and cause you to lose motivation in life.

Women specifically are vulnerable to this because they are nearly twice as likely to suffer from depression as men.

Do you think that you or a loved one are suffering from depression? What are the biggest signs of depression in women?

Here are eight that you should watch out for.

Lack of Energy

One of the most common signs of depression that can easily be overlooked is if someone suddenly has a lack of energy. They may lose motivation to leave the house longer than they have to. Or, they could end up laying in bed all day when they are in their house.

This can be behavior that changes suddenly or gets worse if feelings of depression start to show up. If you notice that someone is never going out anymore or your loved one will not get out of bed, this can be a sign that you should check up on them.
Mood Swings

Something else that you should watch out for is if a woman has sudden mood swings. People around them may think this is being caused for various reasons.

However, this can be a type of depression. This link explains bipolar disorder when it comes to depression.

It essentially means that someone suffering from this can experience extreme mood swings very suddenly. An example can be feeling extremely happy one minute and then feeling hopeless the next minute.

If you notice someone is acting a lot more positive and happy than normal, be on the lookout for a possible swing in the other direction.
Change in Appetite

What someone eats can also offer some insight into their current mindset. A change in appetite can go both ways.

Someone can suddenly decide that they lost their appetite and barely eat anything for days. Or, someone may decide to use food for comfort and end up overcompensating.

If you notice someone has either massive weight gain or massive weight loss, you may want to try to get to the root of it.
Empty Feelings

When someone experiences depression, it is possible that they could develop empty feelings as a result. It means that they may have lost meaning in life and maybe questioning the purpose of it.

This can stretch to feelings about themselves and to activities that they once took pleasure in. One of the signs of this is when someone acts disengaged from almost everyone and everything around them.

Keep an eye on this if your loved one starts to act this way.
No Pleasure

Going off of the above, someone that is seriously depressed may not take any joy in activities that used to make them happy.

An example could be not having fun with their friends or having fun with hobbies that they used to love. This can even go as far as losing physical feelings of pleasure that someone may get from having sex.

Experiencing joy and happiness is a big part of life and it can help somebody remain positive. If someone can’t find a reliable source to experience this, then there may be a deeper issue.
Pessimistic

When someone is depressed, it is common for them to experience sadness and other negative feelings. This can stretch to how that person views the world around them.

For example, they can get more invested in negative things happening in the world such as famine and wars. Or, they may view the glass half empty on things left up for discussion that is going on around them.

The point is that if someone is depressed, they are likely going to carry that mindset toward everything that are going on around them.
Change in Sleep Patterns

Similar to a change in appetite, a drastic change in sleep pattern can be a bad sign of depression. This can happen both if somebody sleeps a lot longer than usual and if somebody can’t seem to fall asleep at night.

Both of these are signs of depression but the motivation may be different.

For instance, people that sleep too long may want to shut out the world around them. People that sleep too little may not be able to stop thinking about the world around them and how they fit into that world.

Either way, it can be a major disruption to someone’s normal sleep pattern. Do not ignore this if you notice a drastic change.
Suicidal Thoughts

Suicidal thoughts can arguably be the hardest thing to spot in somebody else. That is because some people that have these thoughts are good at putting on a smile for the world around them.

That is why it is so important to check up on people if you are not sure how they are feeling. If you notice someone starting to open up about this, keep checking up on them.

See Depression in Women

These are eight symptoms of depression that you need to be on the lookout for. If you are not careful, it can lead to more drastic actions such as suicide. Luckily, there are early warning signs that someone may be going through this.

Look for notable changes in behavior such as appetite, sleep patterns, energy level, mood swings, and overall feelings. For more relevant information on depression in women, see our other articles in the Women’s Health and wellbeing section.