Diagnosing clinical depression,2, symptoms, depressed mood, weight loss or gain, lack of interest in pleasures, Depression, Alternative therapies, mind-body medicine, integrative therapies

	You feel sad, blue, and down in the dumps.
	You cry at the smallest missteps. Everything looks bleak, dark, dirty, and hopeless.
	You forget what it was like not to be depressed. You start believing that you will never feel right again.
	You find that your ability to experience and appreciate the pleasures of life is impaired.

Decreased Interest or Pleasure in Things

	Life seems gray and boring, without color, taste, or texture.
	You have little or no desire to work, read the newspaper, watch TV.
	You want to stay away from your friends or family.
	Nothing seems worth doing.

In the extreme case, you may get so deeply depressed that you lose the capacity to feel anything at all. You experience a deadening, complete withdrawal of interest. You do not care about anything. You are hollowed out. It will be a great relief to cry.

Weight or Appetite Change

Some people lose their taste for food and have to force themselves to eat or may even have to be forced to eat.

Others find refuge in food and feel it impossible to stop eating, grabbing just about everything in sight, especially sweets and other high-calorie foods.

Source: Drs. Allen Frances and Michael First: "Your Mental Health," Scribner Press.

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