If you’re tired all the time, it may make you feel down because you can’t seem to find the energy to get things done or to do the things you enjoy.
However, if you notice that being tired is connected to feeling sad, then consider the possibility that you may be depressed.
What Are Some Other Symptoms Of Depression?
Besides tiredness and feeling sad, other depression symptoms include loss of interest in things you once enjoyed doing, difficulty sleeping, losing or gaining weight without trying, difficulty concentrating, difficulty with making decisions, feelings of guilt, crying spells and feelings of worthlessness.
Pay close attention to your thoughts. If you find that you are negative and self-critical often, this is a sign that depression may be causing your chronic tiredness.
Low Grade Depression Can Make You Tired For Years
While spotting major depression is often not difficult, dysthymia can go on for years without being recognized.
One reason for this is that sufferers become so used to feeling tired, unmotivated and negative that they don’t even notice it and can’t remember what it was like to feel happy and energetic.
Medical professionals diagnose dysthymia if a person has symptoms of depression that last for two years or longer.
If you have had one or more of the following symptoms for a long time in addition to always feeling tired, talk to a doctor about the possibility that you are suffering from dysthymia, especially if the symptoms are making it difficult for you to function on a day to day basis.
- Decreased or increased appetite
- Trouble sleeping
- Sleeping too much
- Trouble focusing or concentrating
- Low self esteem
- Feeling worthless
- Feeling hopelessness
Physical Signs That You May Be Depressed
Depression affects the entire body, and sometimes physical symptoms are easier to recognize than emotional ones. Headaches, backaches, stomachaches and other aches and pains may all be clues that you are depressed.
Even if you do not have physical symptoms now but have had them in the recent past, consider depression as the cause of your tiredness. That’s because depression symptoms often come and go.
People who are depressed often treat the symptoms – for example, by taking aspirin for a headache or antacids for a stomachache – only to find that a different set of symptoms arises.
What to Do About Depression
If you think your tiredness may be caused by depression, don’t despair. Once recognized, depression is a very treatable condition.
The best treatment for you will depend on your individual symptoms and the particular type of depression that you have.
If the depression is relatively new and has not been present for a long time, it may be a simple matter of talking to a therapist who can help you uncover the reasons for your depression. You can then outline the steps you need to take to feel better and regain your energy.
Severe depression may require at least a short course of medication. Sometimes, the shame or guilt associated with feeling depressed causes people to avoid seeking help for their emotional symptoms.
Instead, they concentrate on physical symptoms such as tiredness, which only guess worse over time.
If your depression has become severe, medication will help to get you back on track physically so that you can begin to address underlying emotional issues that are causing or contributing to your depression.
If you’re honest with yourself, you will recognize such symptoms as pessimism, negative thinking patterns obsessive thoughts (ruminating).
Mind-body exercises like meditation, tai chi and yoga are also helpful in treating both depression and low energy. These treatments focus on the connection between mind and body.
This is based on the idea that you need to feel good emotionally and mentally in order to feel good physically. Other ways to treat depression and improve your energy level include nutritional therapy and exercise.
You can read more ideas about how to increase energy associated by depression in “End Tiredness Program”.
These strategies are effective ways to reduce tiredness whether it is caused by depression or not.
Learn more about Depression here >>