Health hazards of depression – 8 signs

Depression, clinical or physiological, takes a great toll on your system in more ways than one. “You may see a higher incidence of colds or infections in patients with depressive mentality,” says Katherine Muller, a clinical psychologist at the Center for Integrative Psychotherapy in Allentown, Pa. If one is suffering from more than four of the following discussed below, he/she may be suffering from chronic depression.

• Immunity lowers : Chronic depression lowers your overall immunity. You become prone to common and infectious diseases and fall sick often.
• Increase in stress hormones : When coritsol & norepinephrine levels go up, risk of stress related diseases like stroke increase.
• Loss in appetite : You either lose appetite or eat more than your usual self this can lead to anorexia or obesity
• Libido loss : Appetite for sex also goes down when you feel blue. Actually, sex can be a great stress reliever, but if clinically depressed, you might find yourself in no mood.
• No or low energy level energy : One finds it difficult to do simple things like getting up to get oneself a glass of water. Low energy levels can impact other activities too.
• Sleep pattern disrupt : One can feel sleep deprived or just find it difficult to sleep because “the body isn’t getting cues it needs to sleep,” says Barbara E. Ensor, Ph.D., a psychologist at Stella Marin, a long-term care facility in Timonum. Over sleeping is also possible for otherwise light sleepers as their body energy levels are so low that they don’t want to get up. Also, they tend to shut off their problems through sleep.
• Chronic pain : Because of constant strain and stress on muscles, muscles start paining leading to chronic back and leg pain.
• Digestive disorder : Stress takes its toll on your digestive system causing constipation or diarrhea.

Source : The Times Of India