In today’s fast-paced world, health issues have become oblivious to people as they have absolutely no time to even stop for a moment, and examine themselves. When it comes to physical health, your body has its own mechanisms to let you know that it needs help.

What about your mental health? Does your mind communicate with you? Yes, it certainly does. We choose to ignore it, as most of us don’t understand the value of being mentally content and healthy.

If you’re feeling low or frustrated all the time, look into it. Do not listen to those who tell you to “Keep yourself busy”. Here’s why!

Depression is one of the prominent forms of mental illness existent in the world today. The rates of increase of this illness are alarmingly high, over the last decade.

If a person is depressed, there is a fair chance that he/she may not even know it in the initial stages, as this is not an illness that comes with side effects. If we fail to understand what is going on inside our head, it may lead to a stage of clinical depression which is very hard to come out of.

See: How to remain Hydrated in summers

Here are 12 surprising signs of depression that will help you decide.

1. Anti-social nature – Going out, meeting friends/family, reunions etc. are considered a burden, rather than an opportunity to socialize. You might prefer staying home, being by yourself over interacting with peers.
2. Inclination towards alcohol/drugs – You find yourself in a position where you only feel good when you are in any form of intoxication such as alcohol, drugs or smoking tobacco. This means that you have lost the ability to make yourself happy and that you need some sort of external force to do the job.
3. Distancing oneself from loved ones: Being relatives, friends or relationships one may find themselves repelling all sorts of human contact, which may be a sign of depression. You will not open up to anyone and be a closed book, hard to crack.
4. Feeling responsible for everything – You feel like everything that went wrong in your life is your fault, and regret everything that happened to you, even if it wasn’t your wrongdoing.
5. Questioning your existence: You feel like there isn’t any point of you being in this world, and ask yourself “What is the purpose of me staying when the world will be better off without me?” .These kinds of thoughts are extremely dangerous and needed to be shared with others.
6. Loss of Interest – You seem uninterested in almost everything, and cannot concentrate on your studies or work.
7. Sleep pattern – You seem very restless when you sleep or have a complete lack of sleep (insomnia)
8. Feeling tired all the time – Extreme cases of fatigue are observed in your body, and your average energy limit per day is much lower than what it used to be.
9. Significant weight loss/gain –The body responds to mental depression through significant loss/gain in body mass, which is something you need to keep track of.
10. Appetite Loss/Gain – You will either tend to overeat, or you will completely lose the will and appetite to indulge food.
11. Severe Mood swings –Your mood is never stable. It oscillates back and forth, and you hear this from your peers and family way too many times.
12. General discontent – Hopelessness is always present and your mind is not content with the way things are. This makes you anxious and frustrated very often.

Watch out for these subtle signs of depression.

Improvement of our mental health depends on how much we dedicate effort to understanding how we function on a daily basis.

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