 Hey, Psych2Goers and welcome back to another video. Thank you all so much for the love and support that you've given us, enabling us to make yet another exploration into everyday psychology. So, let's begin. Depression is a difficult condition to live with and affects the way a person functions and how they feel about the world around them. It also is the most common psychiatric condition and has affected up to 7.1% of the US population. But did you know depression comes in many different forms and impacts each person differently? Sometimes depression can come with delusions or hallucinations, known as psychotic features. Earning the name psychotic depression, these bring a new cast of issues to a disorder that is already troublesome to deal with. Please note that this video is for informative purposes only. It's not intended to diagnose any conditions or give mental health advice. Please reach out to a health care provider or mental health professional if you're experiencing similar struggles. Also, a word of caution for those who might be triggered by mentions of suicidal themes, which are discussed later on as well. With that said, to better understand what exactly psychotic depression is, here are 7 signs of major depression with psychotic features. 1. Feeling hopeless and helpless You might be thinking this seems very similar to standard depression. Yes, feeling hopeless and helpless is a huge indicator of both depression and psychotic depression. You may start doubting yourself and feel stuck in your situation. This can be over anything in your life. Perhaps you feel that you'll never progress in your job or maybe you feel that your mental state will never get better. 2. Holding false beliefs or more formally known as delusions They're possibly the biggest indicator that depression has psychotic features. Some people may believe that they're infected with some kind of disease. Others may believe that they've committed some sort of heinous crime. The delusions usually are related to the depressive symptoms. They're in some way causing you to feel negative about a certain scenario, whether it be in your brain or something you've done to others. 3. Poor concentration Have you found that your ability to concentrate has been affected as of late? Is it hard for you to start and finish tasks causing problems, especially with school and work performance? In psychotic depression, this can be in part due to either the psychotic features or the depressive features, other times both. With these features, the thoughts can be loud and overwhelming, making it difficult to focus on what's necessary. 4. Losing pleasure in activities Do you find yourself staying in more? Have your favorite hobbies lost their appeal? Do you keep asking yourself what's the point in anything anyway? Losing interest in activities that you once enjoyed is another huge indicator of depression. A combination of this with the psychotic features can take the pleasure out of anything you used to enjoy. 5. Feeling guilty Do you feel guilty because you think you committed a crime against someone? Despite not actually having done so, does it feel like you hear voices shaming and critiquing who you are? This might all be fueled by guilt. It's another common issue in depression. This is often coupled with delusion, leading you to feel guilty over something you haven't done. Other times this can cause you to feel like a burden to others. These feelings in any scenario are often irrational and disproportionate to reality. This can be especially tricky in the presence of a delusion as the delusion may present itself as very realistic. 6. Suicidal ideation Plotting or thinking about ending your life is a tragic symptom of depression. Sometimes life can seem overwhelming and cruel to the point where it feels like all hope is lost. And on top of it all, experiencing intense delusions or hallucinations can make life extremely difficult. Especially since they're usually of a negative nature such as hearing voices criticizing you or believing you have an incurable disease. If you feel any signs of suicidal ideation it's highly recommended to seek help right away. There are resources and help available to get through the darkest of times. 7. Seeing or hearing things that aren't there Does it feel like you see and hear things that aren't actually there? Either in a direct or indirect way? For instance, seeing a shadow flicker versus an actual being. Hallucinations are less common sign of psychotic depression but may still appear. Similar to delusions, these usually come with a darker theme and actively hurt the person experiencing them. For example, someone may hear voices yelling at them and telling them that they're worthless. It is important to know that these psychotic symptoms do not dominate the depressive symptoms. In other psychotic disorders however like schizophrenia the psychotic symptoms are dominant over the depressive ones. Schizophrenia may or may not be accompanied by depression. This is why it's important to seek a professional diagnosis. We hope we were able to give you a little insight into some of the ways that psychotic depression differs from standard depression. What do you think about psychotic depression? Is there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments below. If you find this video helpful be sure to like and share it with someone who might benefit from it. Don't forget to hit the subscribe button and notification bell icon to get notified whenever Psych2Go posts a new video. Thanks for watching.