Everyone occasionally feels blue or sad. But these feelings are usually fleeting and passwithin a couple of days. But when a person has a clinical depression or the so-calleddepressive disorder, it interferes with daily life, normal functioning.

Depression is a common but serious illness. People respond to depressive illness in severalways. Some say that depression feels like a black curtain of despair coming down over theirlives. Many people feel like they have no energy left and find it hard to concentrate. Othersfeel irritable all the time for no apparent reason.

Depression often results from a combination of things. Whatever its cause, depressionis not just a state of mind. It is related to physical changes in the brain, and connectedto an imbalance of a type of chemical that carries signals in your brain and nerves.

Depression can be marked by certain definitive symptoms. We provide you a checklist of 11such tell-tale symptoms that you should watch out for:

1. Loss of interest in domestic activities as well as office work

2. Frequent crying

3. Eating too much or too little

4. Unexplained nervousness or grouchiness

5. Poor self-image

6. Lack of energy for regular activities

7. Troubled sleeping

8. Waking up too early

9. Too much sleeping

10. Sudden weight gain or weight loss

11. Restlessness