How Does Depression Affect Your Daily Life? Where to seek help in Bangalore?

Awareness about depression as an illness has increased compared to the last decade. However, there is still a confusion about how it may present in everyday life. Often, we hear family members or friends of people suffering from mental illness say “He is just lazy”, “She lacks motivation” or “There is no drive in this person”. Such statements or judgements from people make the affected person feel worse. Depression does not always have to manifest in a text book format. Let’s learn about how it looks or affects our everyday life.

• It starts with feeling a sense of dullness or lethargy: Many a times, clients have been confused about actually experiencing depression or not. Well, it begins with a sense of lethargy that makes every day seem like an effort. It feels like we have to work against ourselves and pull ourselves to start the day.
• Decreased productivity at work: We all know that depression leads to an increase in negative thoughts. When our minds are clouded, concentration on everything else tends to decrease. Thus, this starts showing in the work that we do. We tend to zone out or become mindless or forgetful about things around us.
• Decrease in functionality: When everyday becomes an effort to live and when work/academics start taking a hit, a lack of motivation sets in. This in turn leads to a decrease in interest/ pleasure we derive from things that we initially found happiness in. This further reduces our motivation to start performing even everyday activities.
• Decrease in self-care: One can find themselves in a state of mind, where they have no interest in taking care of themselves too. Waking up, bathing and grooming oneself to look presentable to others might also feel like a huge task. Decrease in weight because of not wanting to eat is also a common sign of depression.
• Withdrawing from our social circle: Often times, our sad mood blinds us and makes us look at things in negative light. We become sensitive to what people tell us and often feel like no one would understand us even if we express our distress. This makes us withdraw from our loved ones, which in turn leads to a sense of loneliness.
• High functioning depression: Many a times, people can find themselves living a life that they wanted i.e. with a family, with a good academic record or a good job. But, they might not have derived happiness or a sense of satisfaction from any of it and it also just feels like a “duty” to them. This could also be a sign of depression in some.