Symptom: Depressive symptoms

Introduction: Depressive symptoms

Further information about Depressive symptoms is below, or review more specific information about these types of Depressive symptoms: postpartum depression, mental depression, sad, Suicidal tendencies, Self harm, Suicidal symptoms or other types.

Although depressive symptoms can obviously be caused by depressive disorders such as depression, there are many other possible reasons that may lead to feelings of being down, sad or "depressed". Just because you feel "depressed", doesn't mean you have the medical condition of depression. Normal emotional reactions to grief, relationship problems, stress, and other non-disease issues may be the cause of negative feelings. Sometimes you can be down because of the effects of other symptoms like fatigue, tiredness, sleepiness, rather than actually any depressive symptoms, and you need to research these other symptoms as the real issue. Various physical (non-mental) conditions can cause depressive-like symptoms, or alternatively cause some of the other related symptoms (e.g. fatigue, tiredness). And the difficulty of coping with any type of chronic illness can bring you down. On the other hand, true depression and other depressive disorders are serious mental illnesses, and need to be considered seriously. Seek prompt professional medical or psychological advice for any depressive symptoms.

» Review Causes of Depressive symptoms: full list

Causes of Depressive symptoms:

The following medical conditions are some of the possible causes of Depressive symptoms. There are likely to be other possible causes, so ask your doctor about your symptoms.

• Some possible simple non-psychological disorder reasons for depressive or down symptoms include:
  • Childbirth
  • Parenting
  • Grief
  • Divorce
  • Relationship problems
• Other symptoms that might be mistakenly called "depression" include:
  • Fatigue
  • Tiredness
  • Sleepiness
  • Stress
• Depressive disorders
  • Depression
  • Bipolar disorder
  • Dysthymia
  • Post-natal depression
  • See also types of depressive disorders
• Physical conditions - There are numerous physical disorders that may lead to "down" or depressive-like symptoms.
  • Fatigue conditions
  • Chronic fatigue syndrome
  • Chronic pain
• Influenza
• Hepatitis
• Infectious mononucleosis
• Brucellosis
• Toxoplasmosis
• Hypothyroidism
• Hyperadrenocorticalism
• Hypoadrenocorticalism
• Hypoparathyroidism

See full list of 238 causes of Depressive symptoms

» Review Causes of Depressive symptoms: full list

Causes of Types of Depressive symptoms:

Review the causes of these more specific types of Depressive symptoms:

• Postpartum depression
• Mental depression
• Sad
• Suicidal tendencies
• Self harm
• Suicidal symptoms

See full list of 49 types for Depressive symptoms

Depressive symptoms: Multiple Symptom Checker

Listed below are some combinations of symptoms associated with Depressive symptoms, as listed in our database. Visit the Multiple Symptoms Checker, to add and remove symptoms and research your condition.

Multiple Symptom Checker - Other Symptoms

• Depressive symptoms: Multiple Symptom Checker

Multiple Symptom Checker Combinations

• Depressive symptoms and Behavioral symptoms (194 causes)
• Depressive symptoms and Emotional symptoms (192 causes)
• Depressive symptoms and Personality symptoms (191 causes)
• Depressive symptoms and Society problems (189 causes)
• Depressive symptoms and Muscle symptoms (135 causes)
• Depressive symptoms and Nerve symptoms (132 causes)
• Depressive symptoms and Head symptoms (128 causes)
• Depressive symptoms and Pain (126 causes)
• Depressive symptoms and Muscle weakness (123 causes)
• Depressive symptoms and Sensations (121 causes)
• Depressive symptoms and Mental problems (114 causes)
• Depressive symptoms and Digestive symptoms (110 causes)
• Depressive symptoms and Weakness (110 causes)
• Depressive symptoms and Fatigue (109 causes)
• Depressive symptoms and Anxiety (100 causes)
• Depressive symptoms and Movement symptoms (90 causes)
• Depressive symptoms and Face symptoms (88 causes)
• Depressive symptoms and Abdominal symptoms (75 causes)
• Depressive symptoms and Irritability (72 causes)
• Depressive symptoms and Headache (72 causes)

See full list of 1482 Multiple Symptom Checker combinations related to Depressive symptoms

Home Diagnostic Testing and Depressive symptoms

Home medical tests possibly related to Depressive symptoms:

• Home Emotional Stress Tests

Causes of General Symptom Types

Research the causes of these more general types of symptom:

• Common symptoms
• Society problems
• Emotional symptoms
• Behavioral symptoms
• Personality symptoms

Causes of Similar Symptoms to Depressive symptoms

Research the causes of these symptoms that are similar to, or related to, the symptom Depressive symptoms:

• Fatigue
• Weakness
• Tiredness
• Sleepiness
• Anxiety
• Fear

Diagnostic Guides for Depressive symptoms

12 MEDICAL SYMPTOM BOOKS: FULL TEXT ONLINE! Read the full text of published book sections related to Depressive symptoms from the following published medical books for more detailed information about Depressive symptoms. Free access (no registration): read all online diagnostic book sections about Depressive symptoms

Copyright notice for book excerpts: Copyright © 2007 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Misdiagnosis and Depressive symptoms

Rare epilepsy can cause a variety of severe emotional and depressive symptoms: The book "Preventing Misdiagnosis of Women" reports on a case of a woman with severe personality and behavioral symptoms, and a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder. She...more »

High rate of misdiagnosis of psychiatric disorders: The book "Preventing Misdiagnosis of Women" reports on studies that estimate that 41% to 83% of people who are treated for psychiatric disorders, actually have a misdiagnosed physical...more »

Physical disorders often hidden causes of depression: It is a common misdiagnosis to diagnose a psychological or psychiatric disorder, such as depression, when symptoms are actually caused by an underlying...more »

Underactive thryoid may be misdiagnosed as depression: Hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid, is an endocrine gland disorder that is more common in women. It can mimic many diseases, including depression. The...more »

Adrenal gland disorder difficult to correctly diagnose: Addison's disease, a disorder of the adrenal glands, causes a variety of symptoms, and is often misdiagnosed in early...more »

Cushing's disease can be mistaken for depression: Cushing's disease (or similarly Cushing's syndrome) is a possible misdiagnosis for a person diagnosed with depression. It is an endocrine disorder with many depressive-like characteristics, but also some...more »

Manic-depressive (bipolar) disorder often misdiagnosed: Bipolar disorder, also called manic-depressive disorder, is often misdiagnosed before reaching a correct diagnosis. Some of the common misdiagnoses include depression and schizophrenia. See $introduction to...more »

Calcium disorder a hidden cause of depression-like symptoms: Another uncommon endocrine disorder that can be misdiagnosed as depression is hypocalcemia (low blood calcium), which is usually due to a disorder of the parathyroid gland...more »

Various mental health symptoms caused by rare epilepsy: Temporal lobe epilepsy is a less common form of epilepsy that does not have the typical physical seizures. Patients can suffer from symptoms such as depression, moodiness, anger, irritability,...more »

Rare seizure-less epilepsy misdiagnosed as various conditions: A complex partial seizure disorder, such as temporal lobe epilepsy can be misdiagnosed as various conditions. Some of the possible misdiagnoses include depression, bipolar disorder...more »

Multiple sclerosis often misdiagnosed as mental disorder: The early stages of multiple sclerosis may cause various general feelings of wellness, happiness, euphoria, or manic-type symptoms in some patients. These...more »

Lupus is often misdiagnosed as other conditions: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), often simply called "lupus", is a difficult disease to diagnose and can manifest with numerous symptoms. Some of the possible misdiagnoses include depression, $bipolar disorder...more »

Rare copper disease insidious and misdiagnosed: Wilson's disease (a form of copper overload) is a rare disorder that has a slow and insidious...more »

Insidious cancer misdiagnosed as mental health condition: Pancreatic cancer is fortunately relatively rare, but this dangerous condition can be misdiagnosed as a mental condition in its early stages. Psychological...more »

Hidden diagnosis of chronic STD: The book "A Dose of Sanity" reports on a case of a many diagnosed with depression, who was correctly diagnosed with seronegative syphilis (see ...more »

Cluster of diseases with difficult diagnosis issues: There is a well-known list of medical conditions that are all somewhat difficult to...more »

Alzheimer's disease over-diagnosed: The well-known disease of Alzheimer's disease is often over-diagnosed. Patients tend to assume that any memory loss or forgetulness symptom might be Alzheimer's, whereas there are many other less severe...more »

Bipolar disorder misdiagosed by primary physicians: Bipolar disorder (manic-depressive disorder) often fails to be diagnosed correctly by primary care...more »

Depression undiagnosed in teenagers: Serious bouts of depression can be undiagnosed in teenagers. The "normal" moodiness of teenagers can cause severe medical depression to be overlooked. See misdiagnosis of depression or symptoms of depression....more »

Undiagnosed anxiety disorders related to depression: Patients with depression (see symptoms of depression) may also have undiagnosed $anxiety...more »

Subtle changes in hypothroidism can be missed: The early changes in hypothyroidism are subtle and can be misdiagnosed especially if only a single symptom is dominant. Hence the list of conditions from which it has to be...more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Depressive symptoms

Diagnostic tests for Depressive symptoms:

Various tests are used in the diagnosis of Depressive symptoms. Some of these are listed below :

• Physical examination
  • Examine for possible causes of physical illness that may cause depression or present as depression
  • Mental state examination - including appearance, behavior, rate and continuity of speech, mood, affect, thought content, evidence of any hallucinations or abnormal beliefs, orientation to time, place and person, attention and concentration, short-term memory, insight and judgement.
• Blood tests (to rule out specific causes of depression)
  • Full blood count

See full list of 15 diagnostic tests for Depressive symptoms

Diagnosis Checklist: Questions your doctor may ask (and why!)

During a consultation, your doctor will use various techniques in their assessment of Depressive symptoms. Your doctor may ask several questions when assessing your condition. It is important to remember that your consultation is a two-way process and any extra information you can share with your doctor about your symptoms may help them with their diagnosis. Some of the questions your doctor may ask are listed below:

• How long have you had depressive symptoms? - to determine if acute or chronic.
• What symptoms of depression do you have? - e.g. depressed mood, crying spells, anhedonia (loss of interest or pleasure), increase or decrease in appetite (usually decreased), weight loss or gain, insomnia or increased sleeping (usually early morning waking), fatigue, loss of energy, feelings of worthlessness, feelings of excessive guilt, poor concentration, difficulty making decisions, low libido, thoughts of death or suicide attempt.
• What time of the day do you feel worse? - may assist in determining the type of depression that you have e.g. with endogenous depression you usually feel worse on waking in the morning; postnatal depression usually feel worse at end of day.
• Has the thought of hurting yourself or ending your life occurred to you? - it is important for the doctor to know if you are a suicide risk.
• Can you think of any reason why you feel like this? - e.g. severe loss, such as the death of a loved one, marital separation or financial loss. Note that depression may develop for no apparent reason.

See Diagnosis Checklist for Depressive symptoms (28 listings)

Diagnosis Checklist: Associated symptoms your doctor may ask about (and why!)

Sometimes, other symptoms may be present and may help your doctor analyse your condition. The symptoms your doctor may ask about (in association with Depressive symptoms) may include:

• Symptoms of Manic-depression? - e.g. episodes of depression (often psychotic in intensity) and at other times episodes of psychotic excitement (mania or hypomania). Symptoms of psychotic excitement may include elevation of mood, increased activity, grandiose ideas, irritability, disinhibition (which affects social, sexual and financial behavior), rapid speech and racing thought, delusions (persecutory or grandiose) and sometimes hallucinations.
• Symptoms of anxiety? - e.g. nervousness, shakiness, tremor, restlessness, irritability, insomnia, poor concentration, heart palpitations, racing heart, sweating, dizziness, diarrhea, lump in throat and frequency of urination - anxiety and depression are very closely related and may co-exist, however anxiety may mask an underlying depression.
• Psychotic symptoms? - e.g. hallucinations, delusions, disordered thought - may assist in differentiating schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder from depression but people with severe psychotic depression may also experience these symptoms, especially delusions. Note that patients with schizophrenia may also develop pronounced depressive symptoms.
• Symptoms of brain tumor? - e.g. headache, dementia, seizures, stroke-like symptoms - a brain tumor may present with depression.
• Symptoms of Cushing's syndrome - e.g. weight gain especially central abdominal, change of appearance, moon-like face, thin skin, easy bruising, excessive facial hair growth, acne, muscle weakness, lack of or rare menstrual periods, poor libido, psychosis, insomnia, frequent urination, excessive thirst - Cushing's syndrome may also present with depression.

See Diagnosis Checklist for Depressive symptoms (28 listings)

Stories from Users for Depressive symptoms

Real-life user stories relating to Depressive symptoms:

• I've been depressed for some time now but...
• The severest "depression" in history
• Depression
• I think about suicide but am not depressed
• Misdiagnosed IBS with Depression ---> Ovarian Tumor
• Next Steps? I think my husband is severely depressed
• Depression - Physical Symptoms?
• i recently started to suffer depression ?
• Post Partum Depression - Being On Medicaton While Breastfeeding
• Confused am I depressed/constipated whats wrong?
• Is it really depression?
• Help with anxiety/depression
• Help with diagnosis...maybe depression?
• Depression or.....
• My story, help? Depression, Physical Pain
• Suffering from depression for last 8 years
• Depression
• Anxiety & Depression or Digestive Disorder
• Cluster Migraines, Depression, Fatigue, and Phantom Pain
• Missdiagnosis of depression when I have ulcer and possible blood cloth

Symptom specific forums: The following patient stories in our interactive forums and message boards relate to Depressive symptoms or relevant symptoms:

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Videos for Depressive symptoms

Patient Surveys for Depressive symptoms

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Medications or substances causing Depressive symptoms:

The following drugs, medications, substances or toxins are some of the possible causes of Depressive symptoms as a symptom. Always advise your doctor of any medications or treatments you are using, including prescription, over-the-counter, supplements, herbal or alternative treatments.

• Diethylstilbestrol
• Stilphostrol
• Honvol
• Sulfatrim DS
• Sulfoxaprim

See full list of 846 medications causing Depressive symptoms

Drug interactions causing Depressive symptoms:

When combined, certain drugs, medications, substances or toxins may react causing Depressive symptoms as a symptom. Always advise your doctor of any medications or treatments you are using, including prescription, over-the-counter, supplements, herbal or alternative treatments.

• Zolpidem and benzodiazepine interaction
• Ambien and benzodiazepine interaction
• Zolpidem and diazepam interaction
• Ambien and diazepam interaction
• Meprobamate and alcohol interaction

See full list of 527 drug interactions causing Depressive symptoms

Article Excerpts about Depressive symptoms

Everyone gets the blues now and then. It’s part of life. But when there is little joy or pleasure after visiting with friends or after seeing a good movie, there may be a more serious problem. A depressed mood that stays around for a while, without let-up, can change the way a person thinks or feels. Doctors call this "clinical depression." (Source: excerpt from Depression: NWHIC)

Definitions of Depressive symptoms:

A mental state of depressed mood characterised by feelings of sadness, despair and discouragement. (On-line Medical Dictionary)
- (Source - Diseases Database)

Organs affected by Depressive symptoms:

The list of organs typically affected by Depressive symptoms may include, but is not limited to:

• Brain
• General constitution

Detailed list of causes of Depressive symptoms

The list below shows some of the causes of Depressive symptoms mentioned in various sources:

• Aceruloplasminemia - depression
• Acne - Depression
• ACTH Deficiency - depression
• Acute intermittent porphyria - depression
• Addington disease - mental depression

See full list of 238 causes of Depressive symptoms

How Common are these Causes of Depressive symptoms?

This information refers to the general prevalence and incidence of these diseases, not to how likely they are to be the actual cause of Depressive symptoms. Of the 238 causes of Depressive symptoms that we have listed, we have the following prevalence/incidence information:

• 17 causes are "very common" diseases
• 25 causes are "common" diseases
• 8 causes are "uncommon" diseases
• 2 causes are "rare" diseases
• 14 causes are "very rare" diseases
• 194 causes have no prevalence information.

See the analysis of the prevalence of 238 causes of Depressive symptoms

Conditions listing symptoms: Depressive symptoms:

The following list of conditions have 'Depressive symptoms' or similar listed as a symptom in our database. This computer-generated list may be inaccurate or incomplete. Always seek prompt professional medical advice about the cause of any symptom.

A

Causes of Depressive symptoms Based on Risk Factors

This information shows analysis of the list of causes of Depressive symptoms based on whether certain risk factors apply to the patient: