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Numerous are the cases of suicide and murder caused by depression that are being reported every day. The sad bit about depression is the fact that most people do not really know they are suffering from it.
According to a World Health Organization Report, there are at least 7000 suicide cases reported in Kenya annually.
In a bid to reduce these numbers, here are 8 telltale signs that you could be depressed:
Hopelessness: This is a state where you feel unhappy because you feel there is no possibility of a better situation or outcome. Most people, commonly the youth tend to feel hopeless because they feel there is no one who will listen to them without judging them. They want to be understood but they lack an avenue. Their parents shrug them off by telling them, “This is a phase we also went through…” or in some adverse African setups they are told, “Man up!” Fatigue: This is a feeling of lack of energy or motivation that can be physical, mental or both. If you are constantly exhausted, this could be a sign that you are depressed. Do not brush it off. School and work can be major contributors to fatigue. You just need to find the perfect balance. Loss of pleasure in activities: The minute you realize you are no longer excited about the things that normally gave you so much life, then you could probably be depressed. Don’t umbrella all that with the notion that ‘You’re growing old’. If all you want to do nowadays is just stay in bed the whole day when you used to be the one hitting people up asking their weekend plans, this could be a serious indicator that you might actually need to seek help. Tearfulness: Some people might not take this seriously but tearfulness is indeed a sign that you could be depressed. This is usually because your emotions are all over the place; every little thing makes you tear up, even when you don’t intend to. Don’t get this wrong, this is not only common to women, even grown up men get tearful. Diminished sex interest: This is for both men and women, if your partner nowadays just wants to cuddle in bed the whole night to wake up the next morning unmoved, then they could be depressed. The minute you realize your sex life is dying a slow death, address the situation. Insomnia or sleeping a lot: Lack of sleep or the extreme opposite, where you sleep a lot, are both indicators that you could be depressed. Struggling to find sleep at night could be caused by emotional and psychological triggers such as anger, worry, grief, bipolar disorder, and trauma. Also, sleeping a lot should not be overlooked because a depressed person will tend to sleep a lot to forget what they are going through. Lack of concentration: The minute you realize your concentration span has reduced drastically, you are no longer able to devote your attention wholly to a particular thing, you could be depressed. Lack of concentration could also affect your productivity and performance in school or at work and could further catalyze depression. Suicide tendencies: This normally presents itself in various ways, you could occasionally just think about wanting to die and leave the world or jokingly tell it out to your friends or family that you want to die. This is another sign that you could be depressed. Which team do you support in the World Cup?
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