When someone we love has depression, we can often recognize the symptoms when we are trained to see them.

They include:

• feeling like crying
• low self-esteem
• low mood or sadness
• feeling irritable and intolerant of others
• lacking motivation or interest in things
• inability to make decisions
• feeling anxious or worried
• not feeling enjoyment in life
• having thoughts of taking one’s own life or harming oneself

These mental signs are not the only signs you may see in someone who has depression. It’s possible there may be physical signs that someone may have as well. Often, these physical signs are related to other health issues occurring at the same time.

Health Conditions That May Cause Depression

For example, depression affects up to 30% of those diagnosed with high blood pressure. This may be due to some medications that are being used for the condition, such as calcium antagonists (amlodipine and verapamil), beta-blockers (atenolol, carvedilol, propranolol, and bisoprolol), or angiotensin agents (enalapril and ramipril). These medications list depression in the list of potential side effects.

Different types of heart disease also can cause depression. It’s very common for someone who has a heart attack to be depressed. This makes sense from a physiological point of view because someone who has suffered a heart attack has less oxygen in the tissues of the heart that were affected. Similarly, those with stroke will also potentially become depressed. In fact, depression even increases the risk of a stroke by 34%.

Those who have a lot of pain and paralysis will often have depression. Many people diagnosed with anorexia or bulimia and substance use could have depression as a co-existing condition. And those with childhood asthma have twice the risk for developing depression later in life. All these are physical signs that may happen with depression.

What scientists and doctors are finding now is that the neurological pathways for depression may be shared for other diseases. This makes it more likely that they will have depression when they have certain physical health problems.

Physical Symptoms of Depression

There are seven symptoms of depression that may affect your physical body:

• Chronic fatigue
  Chronic fatigue, along with other depression symptoms, is a reliable indicator of depression in adults.
• Decreased appetite
  Brain changes may occur in the centers for food regulation and thus affect appetite.
• Aches and pains throughout the body
  With depression, there are changes in neurotransmitters such as serotonin. When altered, this could make you more sensitive to pain.
• Low interest in sex
  Low serotonin levels may also be related to loss of libido.
• Insomnia
  Lower levels of serotonin affect sleep, causing disruptions in falling asleep and staying asleep. Insomnia may also be related to a weaker immune system, allowing you to catch infections more easily.
• Oversleeping
  The neurotransmitter changes may affect the circadian rhythms in the body, causing a person to oversleep.
• Constipation
  Lower serotonin levels may affect gut function, slowing down the transit time it takes for food to pass through the GI tract.

If you or a loved one has depression, it’s always important to have a thorough doctor’s examination along with different blood tests to rule out other coinciding conditions. If you are found to be free of any additional conditions, then it is understandable that the physical changes you are experiencing are from the depression itself. This will give you a clue as to what you can do personally in your daily habits to overcome the depression.

For example, foods that increase serotonin levels include eggs, turkey, salmon, tofu, cheese, and pineapple. A diet change may be helpful. Studies have found that an appropriate diet can reduce signs of depression.