Symptoms Of Depression Are Not Always Marked By Sadness

Illustration of sad men (Freepik/Drazen Zigic)

JAKARTA - When they hear the word depression, most people immediately associate it with continuous sadness. In fact, according to a health expert from Harvard, depression does not always appear in the form of sadness. Symptoms can be much more unusual, such as body pain, sleep disorders, making it easy to fall.

Dr Anne Fabiny, Cambridge Health Alliance and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School explained that people often don't realize they are depressed.

"Sometimes it's hard to diagnose depression because they don't come and say, 'I'm depressed.' They come more often with physical complaints, such as pain, memory problems, difficulty sleeping, or changes in appetite," said Dr. Fabiny, quoted from the Harvard Health page.

Dr. Fabiny added that there are patients who fall more often due to depression, making them less pay attention to the surrounding environment.

Depression in men often looks different. Not just gloomy, but prone to anger or offense.

"Men are more likely to show symptoms in the form of anger or grumpi than women," said Dr. Fabiny.

"Stereotip man angry can be a sign of depression," he continued.

This is also supported by data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which shows that depression is more experienced by adult women (10.7%) than men (7.7%). But in men, the symptoms are often disguised.

Older generations are often reluctant to talk about mental health problems due to stigma.

"Parents still think, 'I'm not a crazy person. I don't want people to think I'm crazy'," explains Dr. M. Cornelia Cremens, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Therefore, Dr. Fabiny usually avoids depression when talking to patients. He chooses milder words such as sad.

Signs Of Depression Apart From Sad

According to Dr. Fabiny, there are a number of signs to watch out for besides prolonged feelings of sadness, including:

- Difficult to sleep

- Loss of energy

- Fatigue that doesn't improve

- Difficult to concentrate or remember

- Loss of appetite

- Body pain that never goes away

If these symptoms appear without a clear medical cause, it could be a sign of depression.

Elderly are usually more willing to take medication than to meet a psychologist or psychiatrist. However, according to Dr. Fabiny, antidepressant drugs often work more slowly, less effectively, and risk causing side effects.

"Research shows that a combination of drugs and psychotherapy is the most effective", explains Dr. Fabiny.

Depression that is left untreated can have a serious impact.

The higher death rate due to untreated depression. In addition, depression greatly affects the quality of life. People suffer and they can lose functional abilities." he said.