When a person is affected by mental depression he/she tends to exhibit a certain pattern of behavioral changes. Initially, such changes in behavior might not be too obvious, but gradually these would result in a complete personality transformation. Unless the root cause of such changes is explained, this can result tremendous misunderstandings among family and friends; even complete breakdown of relationships
Mental depression can happen to anyone. There are many, many factors that lead to depression and you need to know that it can occur at absolutely any age. Very young children can suffer from mental depression as can very senior people. This affliction does not differentiate between genders, not shows any preferences to the age of the person it attacks
The person who slips into mental depression exhibits certain traits and behavioral changes that point to this problem. It is easy to recognize them once you know what to look for.
1. The person becomes a pessimist – this change in behavior would be more accentuated if the person previously would have been a die-hard optimist. Even otherwise, the transformation should be obvious to the people with whom he/she interacts closely.
2. The person stops talking – this is one of the most common traits of mental depression, i.e. silence. The person who is depressed prefers to think rather than talk, bottling his/ her feelings inside while thinking about the circumstances and feelings that he/she is experiencing. If you see that the person shuns talking over a long period of time – say a week or a month – consider this as an indicator the he/she is suffering from mental depression.
3.. The person shuns company – the extrovert becomes an introvert. He/she avoids parties, picnics, shopping sprees, games, etc. In other words, they prefer their own company to that of others and are usually not easily convinced to do otherwise. The gradual love of seclusion and loneliness is another behavioral change that points to mental depression.
4.. Talks about and is interested in afterlife and death – you will find that person is all of a sudden very interested in death and other equally morbid subjects. He/ she might express that life is a futile exercise where death and after life are better options. There would be a marked obsession on this topic and no amount of distractions would affect their hang-up on it.
5. Blames himself or herself for everything – these people exhibit a very low self-esteem and tend to blame themselves for everything that goes wrong about them – logically or illogically. There is a sense of hopelessness around them and they feel totally useless and worthless to their family, friends and society at large.