It is a disease that manifests itself with symptoms such as emotional depression, indifference to events and the environment, reluctance to enjoy many activities, pessimism, feeling worthless, regretting what one has done, inability to sleep, decreased desire to eat, and sexual reluctance.

What is depression and what are its symptoms?

It is a disease that manifests itself with symptoms such as emotional depression, indifference to events and the environment, reluctance to enjoy many activities, pessimism, feeling worthless, regretting what one has done, inability to sleep, decreased desire to eat, and sexual reluctance.

It is in the field of psychiatry specialization. Depressive disorder is also known as major depressive disorder.

It is a very common social problem all over the world. WHO considers the disease to be one of the biggest public health problems. In its evaluation as a public health problem, apart from the frequent occurrence of the disease, it is also important that the diagnosis is difficult, it brings economic problems, and the existence of life-threatening complications such as suicide. Projection studies show that the disease will create more problems for societies in the future.



It is generally seen in every 10-20 people in the society. It is about twice as common in women as in men. Likewise, recurrent episodes of depression are more common in women.

Depression often begins around the age of 30. Recent studies reveal that the disease is increasing, especially among young people. Most of the studies show that depression is more common in people living in cities than those living in rural areas.

Depression is more than just a feeling of being bad some days, it’s a disease. Disease signs and symptoms can last for weeks or even months.

If you have symptoms of depression, you should definitely get support from a specialist. It is not a problem that you can solve yourself at home. Almost everyone can hear support for depression at some point in their life. Therefore, do not hesitate to consult a specialist. Otherwise, the progressive disease can cause serious harm to you and your environment. Your social life, work life, family life may deteriorate. Depression is now a disease that can be easily overcome and can be treated with drug therapy or other treatment methods with developing technology.

What are the risk groups for depression?: 

  • Presence of a person diagnosed with depression in first-degree relatives,
  • Be woman,
  • those with anxiety disorders,
  • Alcohol addiction,
  • substance abuse,
  • Those who lost their parents at an early age,
  • The loss of a loved one, such as a spouse or child,
  • Parents living separately, divorced,
  • Those who have had a previous depressive disorder,
  • Those who have economic difficulties, the unemployed,
  • Presence of major trauma,
  • Sexual or physical abuse,
  • Some past illnesses
  • Some drugs used
  • low socioeconomic level,
  • Periods of hormonal change such as puberty and pregnancy.

Am I depressed? 

Depression can sometimes be confused with depressive affect or anxiety disorder. Below are some symptoms that you can evaluate yourself for depression. Finally, they must be measured by a specialist. However, you can have information about your depression status by looking at whether you have them or not.



If you have at least five of these symptoms for at least two weeks, it is useful to consult a specialist for depression:

  • Sleeping too much or too little
  • slowing down in movements,
  • indifference to events
  • Decreased desire
  • Loss or increase in appetite
  • lack of energy,
  • weight loss or gain,
  • Feeling worthless, guilty
  • attention difficulties,
  • Difficulty in decision making
  • Recurrent thoughts of suicide or death

These symptoms should not be related to substance abuse, cannot be explained by another disease or medication, and there should be no manic episodes.

Depression Symptoms 

Depression symptoms can vary between individuals. Symptoms can last for weeks or even months, for at least two weeks. Family life, social life and business life are seriously affected.

Depression symptoms develop gradually. Since it does not develop suddenly, the person may not notice the symptoms. However, it can be understood depending on the realization of someone from family, close circle or business life.

The severity of depression can be expressed according to its effects on daily life. Accordingly, the severity of depression is evaluated in three groups:

  • Mild depression : Has some effect on daily activities.
  • Moderate depression : It has significant effects on daily activities.
  • Severe depression : Daily activities are affected to such an extent that they cannot be done.

Depression symptoms can be classified in three ways:

Emotional symptoms: 

  • Emotional depression (dysphoria): Feeling sad, distressed, unhappiness, sadness, depressed mood, pessimism, feeling empty, hopelessness, distress. These feelings are not everyday temporary feelings. It has been present for at least two weeks and is present most of the day. Emotional depression spreads throughout the day as the disease progresses.
  • Lack of interest and lack of pleasure (anhedonia): The person’s interest in his/her environment, work and family decreases, he/she cannot enjoy the work, actions and activities that he/she previously enjoyed.
  • Feeling of boredom (anxiety): It manifests itself in the form of tension, boredom, forgetfulness, irritability, palpitations in case of depression, sweating, abdominal pain, headache, dizziness.
  • Unresponsiveness: It reacts less than normal people to events, sometimes it may not even react to extremely painful events.
  • Distraction: Inability to concentrate, memory problems, inability to remember, forgetting quickly, etc. Attention is reduced willingly or unwillingly. Memory impairment increases in proportion to the severity of the disease.
  • Slowed thinking: Responsiveness slows down due to difficulty in concentrating.
  • Indecision: Decision making becomes difficult due to slowing down in thought.
  • Guilt: They usually remember their memories of guilt, and a desire to punish themselves arises for this. This can sometimes lead to suicide.
  • Unworthiness: They feel worthless and inadequate for events.
  • Pessimism: Worrying about the future is the thought that everything will get worse. Sometimes it can distort normal events negatively.
  • Obsessions: They think obsessively, especially about memories that cause feelings of guilt.
  • Perception disorders: Hallucinations can be seen in depressive disorder, albeit a little.
  • Suicidal thoughts and attempts: Suicide is most common in depressive disorder. One in ten results in death. Suicide is more common in women.

Physical symptoms: 

  • Lack of energy: Fatigue, weakness, low energy are the symptoms encountered in most patients.
  • Loss/increase in appetite: Loss of appetite is often seen in depression. However, 10% of patients have an increase in appetite. The patient does not enjoy or taste the food. Constipation and weight changes.
  • Sexual reluctance: In the later stages of the disease, a decrease in sexual desire and separation from spouses can be seen. The same picture can also be caused by the drugs used in the treatment.
  • Menstrual irregularity: Menstrual periods can change in women. The duration and intensity of menstruation may differ.
  • Sleep problems: Mostly insomnia, a small increase in sleep, sleep interruptions can be seen.
  • Pain: Unexplained muscle aches and headaches may occur in different parts of the body.

Behavioral symptoms: 

  • Psychomotor retardation: It is a state of disruption, regression and slowness in which physical and mental activities almost come to a standstill. It is more common in young people. There may also be avoidance of social activities.
  • Psychomotor agitation: It is a more or less inconsistent extreme behavior that manifests as behavioral and emotional excitement. It is more common in women and elderly patients. It increases suicidal tendencies.

Depression Diagnosis

The diagnosis of depression is made by taking a good anamnesis of the patient. Examination and other tests may be required to rule out other diseases.



In the anamnesis, meaningless, unexplained physical complaints (abdominal pain, headache, dizziness, palpitations, etc.), signs of emotional depression, sleep problems, anorexia findings, onset of complaints, suicidal thoughts or actions, etc. are investigated.

The diagnostic criteria for Major Depressive Disorder are:

a . Having at least five of the following signs/symptoms, one of the first two items, in addition to difficulty in performing daily functions for a two-week period;

  1. Depressive mood that lasts for nearly every day, reported by himself or observed by someone else,
  2. Significant decrease in interest or pleasure in all (or most) activities nearly every day, reported by themselves or observed by others,
  3. Weight gain or loss, increased or decreased appetite almost every day,
  4. Having insomnia (insomnia) or hypersomnia (excessive sleepiness) almost every day
  5. Almost every day, psychomotor agitation (more or less inconsistent excessive behavior in the form of behavioral and emotional excitement) or retardation (disruption, regression and slowness in which physical and mental activities come to a near standstill)
  6. Fatigue, exhaustion or loss of energy almost every day
  7. Feelings of worthlessness, excessive or inappropriate guilt nearly every day
  8. Decreased ability to think or concentrate on a particular topic, or indecisiveness, nearly every day
  9. Having recurrent thoughts of death, recurrent suicidal thoughts and suicidal plans,

B – These symptoms are not accompanied by manic attack symptoms (overconfidence, excessive talking, flight of ideas, etc.),

C – These symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

D – These symptoms are not due to the direct physiological effects of substance use or a general medical condition,

E- These symptoms should not be related to the state of grief (dullness, unresponsiveness or sadness, crying, etc.) due to the death of a loved one.


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