PEOPLE WITH DEPRESSION: 18 COMMON CHARACTERISTICS - ARTE - 2025

The people with depression are characterized by feeling a deep sadness, guilt, lack of motivation, anxiety, dependence, indecision, memory loss, sleep problems, changes in appetite and lack of sexual desire.

This does not mean that all the people who suffer from it have the same behaviors, or even that in all cases it manifests itself in the same way. But they do tend to present common symptoms that can help us identify if someone in our environment or ourselves is suffering from possible depression.

Until recently, there was not enough empathy or understanding with whoever was suffering from this serious illness. Fortunately, there is a growing awareness of this problem and of the very delicate state in which people who suffer from it find themselves.

It is important to remember that luckily, research in this field is very extensive and that today there are well established treatments with which to overcome this disease.

Different techniques and guidelines are used so that each person can choose the method that best suits their problem. In any case, the first step to fix it is to recognize it and then contact a mental health professional to remedy it.

Main characteristics of people with depression

Next, we are going to divide the symptoms based on the area that is affected. In this way, we can classify them into affective, motivational, cognitive, behavioral or behavioral and physical or physiological symptoms.

Affective symptoms

1- Sadness

This is usually the main symptom of people suffering from depression. It manifests itself in different ways and with different intensity depending on the subject. It is very common that the person who suffers from it does not give himself permission to feel sadness properly and this contributes to generating greater discomfort.

2- Self-compassion

The person does not usually give himself permission to admit that he may feel that sadness, especially when he has gone through some serious event or experience, such as the loss of a loved one. In most cases, acknowledging the problem and allowing yourself to feel sorry for yourself helps bring relief.

On the other hand, it is very common for those who suffer from this sadness to say things such as “I cannot bear so much sadness”, “I will always be very unhappy”, “I feel bad all the time”, etc.

These types of thoughts contribute to increasing the feeling of sadness that is fed back in a loop. It is necessary to get out of that vicious circle at some point in order to find a solution.

3- Uncontrollable crying

Experiencing periods of uncontrollable crying is another very common symptom of depression. The person may feel some relief after these episodes, but in the long run they tend to further increase their sadness.

4- Feeling of guilt

In a very common way, the person who suffers from depression usually has feelings of this type for some behaviors that he has carried out and even for thoughts or desires that he has or has had.

The person is not able to identify that the fact of having a wish or thought does not influence reality and many times they believe that just by thinking it can come to pass.

You can also feel guilty about being depressed. In most cases this guilt comes from the fact that the person feels excessively responsible for their own behavior and even that of others.

It can also happen that the person performs counterproductive behaviors due to this feeling and this in turn leads him to feel even worse. For example, since I feel bad, I drink excessively, and when I drink I feel guilty for not being able to control this behavior or solve the problem in another way, therefore the feeling of guilt increases.

5- Shame

Some people with depression have this kind of feeling. They think that they are weaker, childish or inferior to others because of this disease.

Sometimes they even think that they are crazy and that others will realize this fact. This feeling of shame also generates deep discomfort and usually leads to the person avoiding social contact.

6- Anxiety

Contrary to what is usually believed, depression and anxiety tend to go together and when one appears, it is common for the other to be suffered. The person who suffers from it has to learn to identify this discomfort as anxiety and, above all, internalize that although the symptoms are very annoying, they are not dangerous.

In this way, the patient is prevented from feeling anxiety at the very fact of experiencing the symptoms of anxiety.

Motivational symptoms

7- Lack of motivation

It is very common for a person with depression to have a lack of motivation to do even the simplest and most frequent tasks, such as getting out of bed or going to work.

The individual knows what he has to do but is unable to do it or thinks that he will not get any satisfaction from doing it, therefore it is not worth doing and remains in a state of immobility.

8- Avoidance behaviors

Closely linked to the above, it is very common for people who suffer from depression to appear avoidance or flight behaviors.

The person believes that they will be unable to perform a task or that they will perform it poorly, so they avoid facing certain situations. This contributes to increasing your discomfort and the belief that you are not capable of even the simplest task.

9- Dependency

Overdependence on others is another of the common symptoms of depression. Although it is positive to ask for help from people in the environment, this type of dependency goes further and they usually request, or even demand, help for tasks that they could easily perform alone.

Receiving this help from others, initially makes the person experience some relief when feeling loved and cared for by others. But in the long run it can contribute to increase the dependency and the feeling of worthlessness or incapacity of the patient.

10- Anger or anger

In some cases, the person experiences periods of anger or rage. They usually appear when the individual begins to recover because anger is usually incompatible with the deep sadness experienced in the early stages of depression. They are also usually short-term periods and for a specific situation or person.

But, although it is rare, in other cases these periods of acute anger can be experienced regularly and in all stages of depression. If this happens, anger is usually directed towards a specific person and also generates feelings of anger and revenge towards them.

Cognitive symptoms

Perception of problems as unsolvable or overwhelming. This type of belief is very common in the person who suffers from depression since they believe that they will never find the solution to their problems or that they will always find themselves just as bad.

The individual usually experiences a feeling of blockage that prevents him from seeing solutions or thinking of new ones. This lack of creativity when it comes to finding alternatives would not exist if not under the symptoms and effects of depression.

So it is convenient to remember that this blockage will disappear when improvement is experienced or depression ends.

11- Indecision

In this case, the person often stops making decisions because they always foresee a negative consequence as a result. It is also possible that you attribute your depression to certain decisions you have made and therefore making new decisions becomes a difficult and complicated task.

At other times, the person needs to be absolutely certain that the decision they are going to make is the correct one. In this case, it is necessary to remember that there are no absolute certainties and that it is impossible to know what the consequences of making a decision will be before taking it.

It is also possible that the person does not make decisions because of an inappropriate feeling of guilt that prevents them from seeing the realistic consequences of making one option or another.

On the other hand, in many cases it is even advisable for the person to postpone making decisions until they overcome the depression or feel better. As we have already commented, the individual can find himself in a situation of blockage that prevents him from generating options or alternatives that would arise if he were not depressed.

For this reason, if the decision is not urgent, it is advisable to delay it until the person is able to generate all possible alternatives and thus make the decision that is considered the most appropriate at that time.

12- Self-criticism

In a habitual way, the depressed patient usually attributes his suffering to some deficiency or error that he himself has committed. It is also common for them to receive this same message from their environment in the form of phrases such as “if they are like this, it is because they want to” or “if they wanted to, they could be better”.

13- Memory loss and / or difficulty concentrating

These two characteristics often go hand in hand. The person has memory problems because they are not concentrating on the task, what they are saying or what they have to learn.

Instead of focusing their attention on the moment it is required, they are often thinking and rambling on their problems and discomfort. Therefore, when it is necessary to retrieve this information, it is not found because at the time it was not paid enough attention.

Behavioral or behavioral symptoms

14- Passivity

Inactivity is another of the typical characteristics of the person with depression. The main reasons for this passivity are usually the belief that they will not be able to do it, lack of motivation or simply arguing that they are too tired to do it.

It must be borne in mind that due to his state, these types of beliefs are strongly ingrained, and when he expresses that he does not feel capable of doing it, it is because he really believes that he will not be able.

15- Lack of social skills

In this sense, it is common for the patient to avoid social contact, or if he does so, he does so submissively, submitting to the wishes of others. In most cases, the person does have social skills but does not put them into practice.

Physical and / or physiological symptoms

16- Sleep problems

Another of the symptoms that appear regularly are sleep disturbances. Depending on the person, they can manifest as difficulty conciliating it, nighttime sleep interruptions, insomnia or, on the contrary, sleeping excessively. It is important to remember that when the depression subsides, the person will return to a normal sleep cycle.

17- Alterations in appetite

One of the first symptoms that appear when suffering from depression is the alteration of the appetite. Depending on the person in some cases these alterations are manifested with a loss of appetite and in others just the opposite.

At first the person does not usually give it importance but if he loses weight or gains it excessively it can be worrying for the health and self-esteem of the individual.

18- Loss of sexual desire

It is usually another of the symptoms that appear before in depression. It is believed that it is linked to the loss of pleasure that the person experiences in most aspects of his life. As with the other symptoms, it is important to bear in mind that when depression is overcome, the loss of sexual interest will disappear.

References

1. Beck, AT (1967). Depression: Causes and treatment.
2. Beck, AT (1976). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. New York.
3. Beck, AT, Greenberg, RL (1974). Coping with depression (a book let). New York.