Anxiety and depression can feel unending. During the midst of an anxiety attack or depressive episode the reality of the depression or anxious thoughts can seem too real. For Romper, blogger Kimmie Fink writes about her experience living with depression. She writes about how her experiences with depression have taught her that eventually the depression passes. However, it takes time, recovery, and experience to be convinced that is the truth. “That’s arguably the worst part of depression,” she writes, “the utter surety that you will always feel like this. It makes a person desperate, and that’s why untreated depression is so dangerous.” Desperation in combination with depression can lead to extreme forms of coping, from dangerous substance abuse to attempts at suicide. “Education about mental health is essential,” the author asserts, “because what people say matters and the consequences can be devastating.” The same is true for anxiety. Living with anxiety can feel as though the worry, concern, and fear will never end.
Many people aren’t aware of some of the most basic signs of depression, both mental and physical. Here are some of the physical symptoms you could be writing off which are indicators you could be struggling with your mental health.
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Chronic fatigue: Depression can result in feelings of exhaustion, low energy, and low motivation to get anything done. Spending too much time in sedentary positions, without much cognitive interaction can prolong the feelings of fatigue, causing more exhaustion.
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Sleep disturbances: Fatigue can be caused by a severe lacking in restful nights of sleep. Ruminating thoughts, unprocessed emotions, and feelings of guilt can cause disturbances in sleep. Night terrors and nightmares are also common.
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Loss of focus and concentration: Depression is known to make people feel fuzzy in the brain, causing difficulty in focusing and concentrating on complex tasks as well as simple tasks.
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Chronic pain: Aches and pains in the muscles and the joints is common. Emotional energy is physical energy. An overflow of depressed emotions can result in stiff muscles.
Depression does have an answer. At Cottonwood, we excel in clinical treatment of mental health disorders and co-occurring chemical dependency disorders. Providing hope and healing, our addiction rehab and behavioral health treatment programs offer a future of long lasting recovery. For information, call us today by dialing CALL (888) 727-0441.
