What are some signs of depression? I think that someone I know might be depressed, but I need to know for sure. Is EXTREME mood swings one of them?

feelings of hopelessness- yeah, I know a lot about that one

Try this website: www.discoveryhealth.com and type in depression- you'll find a bunch of signs over there. Hope I got the address correct.

Mood swings could be depression, or it could be stress. If you are under a lot of stress from work or school, it might cause mood swings. I know I had mood swings when I was under tons of stress. I could go from okay to bitchy in about 2 seconds flat.

Keep in mind there is also a huge difference between being "temporarily" depressed, and being clinically depressed. Temporary depression is something we all experience from time to time, but clinical depression is a disease that needs to be treated with counseling, and sometimes, medication.

I agree with Jenny about the idea of educating yourself about depression through the Internet. I find WebMD.com to also be a useful resource. If you are still concerned about your friend/family member, either discuss it with them, or seek guidance from someone you trust, whether it be your parents, a teacher, another friend, or whatever.

Good luck....

Yes.... for me it was. I can go from happy to bitchy to crappy to sad, all within 0.6 seconds. My friends at school find it highly amusing because one minute I will be crying, and the next I'll be laughing at something. Prozac is one good thing that helps regulate mood swings.

Other signs... well let's see (I'm taking this from personal experience, so what I say could be different from other people, just lettin' ya know)

I was (like Jenny said) hopeless. I felt like I couldn't do anything at all and that I was a failure. I felt like no one cared, even though I DID know people cared. I felt everyone in the world was out to get me. To sum it up, I felt alone. That was the first phase... then I stopped eating, then I stopped sleeping, then I started hearing things (I can assure you people, I am not crazy), then I stopped caring about school and everyone, I'd have fits of rage where I would end up punching the walls then 5 seconds later end up in a fit of crying, finally getting myself into where I just couldn't take it anymore and I just became suicidal.

I mean not ALL people are what I just described above. They don't exactly know what I have yet, that's the weird thing. They obviously know I'm depressed, that's why I'm now stuck on meds, but in order to properly be diagnosed you should see a pyschiatrist or a pyschologist.

And I cannot believe I just spilled out my whole insides to you lovely people..... oh well. If it makes someone feel better by hearing what others have to say, I'll say it.

:wave: I'm off to school. Ta-ta!

Thank you guys for the info. Just so you know, it's my mom that I'm worried about, not me. Yesterday, my brother was brushing his teeth in a different room than her, and she said something to him and he said he couldnt hear her. So she went in there and SCREAMED whatever she was saying to him. Then he muttered something after she left the bathroom, and she flew back in there and was yelling at him. I was in her room, and she came back in and she started crying. I've never seen my mom like that. Never. My dad kept asking her what was wrong, and she's like, "Nothing, just go to church and pick me up afterwards and I'll go to teach Sunday School." I dont know if shes depressed, or just extremely depressed, but whatever it is, it's not normal, for her or anyone.

Well, I don't know if that means your mom is depressed, I'm no doctor. But I will tell you that your mom's behavior sounds like my mom's when she was depressed. My mom was clinically depressed for a long time after her best friend died from cancer when she was only 33. After that happened, my mom started having mood swings like that. She would get angry and yell at me for no reason at all, and if I did make a little mistake, she would completely fly off the handle. Sometimes she'd do this and then she would just start crying and lock herself in her room. At first, she kept doing all of the things she usually did, like teaching her sunday school class and going to the different parties the ladies at our church would have, she just always seemed like she would rather not go. But later she stopped doing everything. She would stay in bed all day and she wouldn't eat or talk or anything. No matter what my dad and I did, she wouldn't go to the doctor. We finally convinced her to go, and the doctor put her on medication. She's doing a lot better, but there for a while life was difficult to say the least. So I know what you're going through, and I hope it all gets better soon!

we're doing depression in my pdr class, and that is one of the symptoms.

Originally posted by Kay Scarpetta


I was (like Jenny said) hopeless. I felt like I couldn't do anything at all and that I was a failure. I felt like no one cared, even though I DID know people cared. I felt everyone in the world was out to get me. To sum it up, I felt alone. That was the first phase... then I stopped eating, then I stopped sleeping, then I started hearing things (I can assure you people, I am not crazy), then I stopped caring about school and everyone, I'd have fits of rage where I would end up punching the walls then 5 seconds later end up in a fit of crying, finally getting myself into where I just couldn't take it anymore and I just became suicidal.



Yep, you summed up how I felt perfectly. Except I had some different symptoms. I stopped eating too, and I didn't hear things. However, I started to sleep more. Sleep was perfect for me. I could always dream up how I wanted everything, but it was always disappointing to wake up and realize everything in my dream wasn't real.

At times I didn't care about school either. I became half suicidal. I wasn't about to slit my wrists or swallow a bottle of pills- I just kind of wished for death. If things don't get better, I hope I die. Why I didn't kill myself is because I know how my family reacts with certain things like that. My grandpa on my mom's side committed suicide and now it's like people don't even acknowledge his life. It's like he didn't exist or something. It's kind of hard to explain, but it kind of pisses me off with how my whole family acted sometimes. I'm not asking for them to dwell on the facts of how he died. I'd just like for them to remember that he was in fact a person. He did live.

Then I have those moments where I feel better. I don't exactly feel like skipping down the road and singing at the top of my lungs. At times I have the 'normal' moments. I start to think to myself that maybe I'm starting to let go of all the depression and the sad feelings. I might feel 'normal' for a day or two. Maybe as long as a week. Then it comes back again. I start to feel depressed again and it just comes back.

I tried writing in a diary (Alicia Keyes Forever- maybe you can suggest to your mom to start writing in one- it does let off steam) and the diary does help some of the time. I go through my moments in that diary too. I'm not saying I have split personalities or anything, but when I write in my diary it seems that I have 3 or 4 personalities. The first personality appears to sound normal. The normal personality is for the moments in life that aren't so ****ty. The second personality is the one that is angry at everything and everybody. The third personality is the one that talks about all the sad moments and all of the regrets.

Originally posted by Kay Scarpetta
Yes.... for me it was. I can go from happy to bitchy to crappy to sad, all within 0.6 seconds. My friends at school find it highly amusing because one minute I will be crying, and the next I'll be laughing at something. Prozac is one good thing that helps regulate mood swings.

Other signs... well let's see (I'm taking this from personal experience, so what I say could be different from other people, just lettin' ya know)

I was (like Jenny said) hopeless. I felt like I couldn't do anything at all and that I was a failure. I felt like no one cared, even though I DID know people cared. I felt everyone in the world was out to get me. To sum it up, I felt alone. That was the first phase... then I stopped eating, then I stopped sleeping, then I started hearing things (I can assure you people, I am not crazy), then I stopped caring about school and everyone, I'd have fits of rage where I would end up punching the walls then 5 seconds later end up in a fit of crying, finally getting myself into where I just couldn't take it anymore and I just became suicidal.

I mean not ALL people are what I just described above. They don't exactly know what I have yet, that's the weird thing. They obviously know I'm depressed, that's why I'm now stuck on meds, but in order to properly be diagnosed you should see a pyschiatrist or a pyschologist.

And I cannot believe I just spilled out my whole insides to you lovely people..... oh well. If it makes someone feel better by hearing what others have to say, I'll say it.

:wave: I'm off to school. Ta-ta!

*nods* Unfortunately yep....

i'm not depressed... so I have pretty much no input whatsoever.

....