Symptoms of a Depressive Episode

• Suicidal thoughts (not medicated)
• Thoughts of self-injury, satisfaction in inflicting pain on oneself (not medicated)
• Self-destructive behavior (not medicated)
• Obsessive thoughts with death
• Reclusive tendencies
• Melancholy and taciturn disposition
• Extreme mood swings (being angry, sad, unemotional and apologetic at the spur of the moment)
• Often in tears
• Irritable
• Loss of concentration (small or large tasks become difficult to manage)
• Overwhelmed easily
• Loss of sense of taste (food bland and unsatisfying
• Memory lapses (short term memory affected)
• Inability to sympathize with or to feel empathy for others
• Self centeredness (the sufferer may not understand that he/she is in a selfish mindset)
• Increase of sleep
• A general feeling of exhaustion and lethargy
• Muscles aches
• Headaches
• Escapist behavior (use of prescription or illegal drugs or alcohol to escape from reality)
• Increase in daydreams and delusional behavior
• Loss of appetite/increase in appetite
• Weight loss/weight gain
• Overpowering sense of loss
• Overpowering sense of anxiety, worry, problems
• Feeling out of control
• Empty hole feeling in pit of soul
• Paranoia (conspiracy theories, people are out to get you)
• Focusing on issues and incidents from the past that cannot be changed or altered.
• Panic attacks
• Difficulty socializing (large crowds, strange people, or important events make you experience a panic attack or debilitating fear)
• Possessive of family and friends
• Difficulty remembering words (your vocabulary seems to fail you)

When you see not medicated by the symptom listed, it means it is controlled when I am properly medicated.  I, however, still suffer the effects of this symptom, just not to the same degree.  If I have missed a symptom or you have others, I apologize.  Like I said, these are only the ones I have personally experienced.  If you wish to discuss you symptoms, whether they are similar to mine or not, please feel free to email me or leave a message on the message board.