 It's natural to feel sad sometimes. It's a normal reaction to situations that make you upset. But sometimes it can keep going on and on for days, weeks, or even months. With no end in sight. It can impact your everyday life and change it for the worse. When that happens it's no longer just sadness, but depression. Depression is not the one single disorder with a specific set of symptoms but instead a continuum of signs going from mild to more severe. Before we continue, this video is for informative purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose or treat any condition. Please reach out to a qualified healthcare provider or mental health professional if you're struggling. If you're wondering if your sadness is something more than just sadness or questioning if you might be depressed, look out for some of these signs. Number one, sleeping too much. Do you feel like you just can't get enough sleep? Either you wake up in the morning and go back to bed almost right after, or you sleep until the late afternoon. Sleeping too much during the day, even after you've had a full night sleep is called hypersomnia. And it's one of the most common symptoms of mood disorders including depression. When you feel sad you might also feel like you don't want to do anything else but sleep. You may also feel like sleep is an escape from the depressive reality you live in. And even if you want to get up and do stuff, you just can't. It's like you're being chained to your bed. Not only is this symptom difficult to deal with on its own, but it can also lead to some other health problems which include troubles with memory, headaches and migraines, weight gain, and heart disease. Number two, social withdrawal. Sadness can sometimes isolate you from your friends and family. You might feel like it's hard to hang out when you're feeling blue, and you'd rather stay in your room and listen to your favorite sad playlist until that feeling goes away. But if you're severely depressed, spending time with others can feel like a chore you keep putting off. No matter how much you love your friends, family, partner, you just don't want anyone's company. Being around people can feel suffocating in a way because you feel like you're forced to smile, laugh, talk. It feels as if you have to act like nothing's wrong because how could they understand? You feel the need to push people away and make everyone leave you alone, even though deep inside all you want is to have someone by your side. Social withdrawal is a trap that depression makes you fall into. You isolate yourself because it's what you think you need, but it actually makes you feel more lonely and depressed. Number three, poor personal hygiene. Have you ever felt too tired to wash your hair so you decide to just spray some dry shampoo for the day? For people with severe depression, every day feels like skipping a shower. If you're struggling with your symptoms, you probably feel embarrassed to even think about it. Let alone talk about it. But this is something that happens to many people with depression. A global school-based student health survey showed that girls and boys who reported symptoms of depression had an increased likelihood of poor hand and oral hygiene, including washing their hands rarely or never and brushing their teeth less than daily. This is one of the obvious signs of a severe depressive disorder, since it's visible on the body, not just in the mind. It can be extremely hard to brush your teeth, comb your hair, take a shower, or wash your clothes. This can happen because you don't have the energy to do it. You're not leaving your home or you may feel like there's just no point. Number four, losing interest in hobbies and activities. Sadness can make you feel unmotivated to do things you usually like. Maybe you decide you don't really want to go see that movie or you skip your sports practice. When you are severely depressed, that feeling goes even further. You almost completely lose interest in the hobbies and activities that you used to enjoy. It just doesn't bring you happiness anymore. This can reinforce the lack of motivation you feel and it can worsen your symptoms in several ways. It can isolate you from others or make you feel like you're not yourself anymore. Also, since you don't do much during the day, you feel bored all the time, and boredom leaves you with too much time for bad thoughts that run through your head constantly. This happens due because of the way depression impacts your brain, messing up important hormones and brain structures that usually help you stay active and motivated. And number five, suicidal thoughts. When you're feeling sad, you may fantasize about going away for some time, away from the situation that makes you sad and away from the worries that trouble you. But if you daydream of being gone for good or think about taking your own life, that almost certainly rings the alarm and shows you could be suffering from severe depression. We cannot emphasize enough how serious this symptom is. According to the 2017 National Survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or .3% of U.S. adults ages 18 and older had thoughts about suicide, and the risk of suicidal ideation gets higher for people with mental disorders. And this is what makes depression a potentially deadly disease. It's heartbreaking to see anyone feel so much pain that they think dying is the only solution. But the thing with depression is, it can be treated. Medicine and psychology came a long way to develop treatment options. And as other depressive symptoms get under control, suicidal thoughts get under control too. It's important to give treatment a chance. If you or someone you know has suicidal thoughts, please get help right away by reaching out to a close friend or loved one or call a suicide hotline number. Do you see yourself in some of these signs? If you do, please know that there will always be someone to help and that recovery is possible, no matter how hard or unbelievable it may seem. Your doctor or mental health professional is here to hear you out, examine the symptoms you're struggling with and offer you treatment. Asking for help is the bravest and the best thing that you can do for yourself. So don't go through this alone. Make sure to like and share this video if you think it will help someone else. The studies and references used are listed in the description below.