What are the symptoms of depression?

Each person with depression will experience unique symptoms. Your experience of depression may differ greatly from the experience of another person with depression. Click here for more information on how a doctor diagnoses depression based on your symptoms.

Symptoms of depression may include:

• emotional symptoms (tearfulness, sadness, brooding, blues, irritability, anxiety)
• behavioural/cognitive symptoms (indecision, lack of concentration, trouble focusing, withdrawal from social and work activities, decreased personal care such as grooming)
• physical symptoms (changes in sleep patterns, weight, or appetite; fatigue; complaints of pain, which can include headache, stomach pain, and other unexplained pain)

These symptoms may not include all of the possible symptoms someone with depression might have. If you think you or a person you know may have depression, use our Depression Symptom Checker, which will outline and explain the most common symptoms of depression.

Doctors diagnose a person as having major depressive disorder (MDD) based on their symptoms. Depressed mood and/or loss of interest and enjoyment must persist most of the day, nearly every day for at least 2 consecutive weeks. These symptoms result in a change from how a person was functioning previously. During the same 2-week period, at least 5 symptoms of depression must also be present. Learn more about diagnosing depression in "Diagnosing depression."

People with depression have a variety of options available to treat their symptoms. You and your doctor will come up with a treatment plan that is tailored to your needs. About 60% to 80% of people with depression can be successfully treated. There are treatments that work on both the emotional and unpleasant physical symptoms of depression. Read more about treating depression in "Treating depression."