ting, slower speech and gait, lost of appetite, weight change, stays in bed, less sexual activity, poor personal grooming, overall doing less for fun.-Emotional reactions- feeling sad, feeling empty or lacking feelings of all kinds, nervous or restless, angry and grouchy, irritable, overreacts to criticism, bored, apathetic, less interest in food, sex, relationships, music, feeling socially abandoned.-Lack of skills- poor social skills, frequent whining or boring, critical, lack of humor, indecisive, poor planning for future.-Attitudes and motivation- lack of self-confidence and motivation, pessimistic or hopeless, feelings of helplessness or restlessness, expecting the worst, self-critical, feelings of guilt, self-critical, self-blaming, suicidal thoughts.-Physical symptoms- difficulty sleeping, awaking early, hyperactivity or sluggishness, diurnal moods, low sex drive, loss of appetite, weigh loss or gain, ingestion, constipation, headaches, dizziness, pain, and other somatic problems or complaints.In order for a doctor to make a diagnosis of depression, these symptoms must have lasted for a minimum of two weeks, and be upsetting enough to cause a person distress or interfere with work, social life, or daily functioning. Sometimes even when depression is clearly expressed, physicians ignore it. In a group of 23 people that committed suicide all due to depression that had visited their physician within the last couple of weeks- and according to the doctors notes, 80% showed clear evidence of depression. However few were diagnosed as depressed and none were given anti-depressant medication. CAUSES OF DEPRESSIONMany have heard that depression could possibly be due to a chemical imbalance in the brain, signifying that depression may be a medical illness that is, without psychological causes. But all psychological problems have some physical signs, and all physical illnesses have psychological components as well. Chemical imbalances ...
