Physical Signs of Depression That Most People Don't Know

Feeling sad from time to time is a normal part of life, but being depressed is a very different thing. It can cause a variety of symptoms – both emotional and physical – that persist and affect a person’s day-to-day life.

Depression is a common illness. About 6.7 percent of adults in the United States have depression, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Worldwide, an estimated 350 million people of various ages suffer from depression, according to the World Health Organization.

People who have depression experience feelings of sadness, hopelessness, loneliness and/or a loss of interest in things they once enjoyed. All these feelings can interfere with the person’s ability to function properly and has a dramatic effect on their quality of life.

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While most people are aware of these emotional symptoms, physical symptoms related to depression are often ignored because they are not seen as connected.

To understand depression, you need to be aware of the physical signs, too. This can help in getting timely diagnosis and treatment.

Here are some of the physical signs of depression you might not expect.

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1. Weight Loss or Gain

Depression affects the hormones that regulate appetite and can make you want to eat more or less than you usually do. Also, sleep issues associated with depression can compound the problem, since sleep deprivation can mess with those same hunger and fullness hormones.

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Thus, depression can lead to either weight loss or weight gain.

A 2008 study published in the Journal of Health Psychology reports that depressed people are at significantly higher risk for developing obesity than people without depression. The risk among depressed people for later obesity was particularly high for adolescent females. These findings resulted from reviewing data from 16 studies.

If you or someone around you experiences a relatively sudden change in weight, see a doctor to look into the cause, including the possibility of depression.

2. Aches and Pains

Sometimes, muscle or joint pain can be due to depression. When you hold your feelings inside, they eventually come out physically in the form of body pain. Whether it’s a headache or back pain, suppressed emotions can manifest as physical pain.

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A 2014 study published in PLOS ONE found that patients with a current or remitted depressive and/or anxiety disorder and those with more severe symptoms have more disabling pain and pain of a cardio-respiratory nature as compared to people without a depressive or anxiety disorder. However, this warrants further research.

In some cases, pain also leads to depression. For instance, if you have a lot of pain while walking or doing household work, it can make you feel low.

According to a 2005 study published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, people with fibromyalgia are 3.4 times more likely to have major depression than people without fibromyalgia.

Back pain is also common in people with anxiety and mood disorders. This happens because depressed people have a habit of slouching, which causes back pain.

3. Stomach Issues

There is also a strong connection between digestive problems – bloating, constipation, irritable bowel and others – and depression.

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The gut is particularly responsive to your mood states. Also, the nerve cells in your gut manufacture 80 to 90 percent of your body’s serotonin, a mood-boosting neurotransmitter.

On top of that, depressed people tend to eat sugar-loaded foods that stimulate inflammation of the brain and cause an imbalance of the good and bad bacteria in the gut.

A 2011 study by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers and published in PLOS ONE suggests that some psychological conditions like depression may be the result, rather than the cause, of gastrointestinal disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

A 2014 study published in the Annals of Gastroenterology reports that anxiety and depressive disorders are associated with both IBS and ulcerative colitis. The non-specific association between these psychological and gastrointestinal disorders also suggests that chronic gastrointestinal illness might affect psychosocial behavior.

In a more recent 2016 study published in PLOS ONE, researchers analyzed data from a representative sample of 6,483 U.S. teenagers and found that some physical diseases tend to occur more frequently in children and adolescents if they previously suffered from certain mental disorders. Depression was also frequently followed by arthritis and digestive system diseases.

4. Trouble Sleeping

Depression may cause a wide range of insomnia symptoms, including difficulty falling asleep (sleep onset insomnia), difficulty staying asleep (sleep maintenance insomnia) and daytime sleepiness.

Depression often comes with a lack of energy and an overwhelming feeling of fatigue, which can be among the most debilitating symptoms of depression. Surprisingly, as tired as you may feel, depression can affect your sleep quality.

The lack of quality, restful sleep can also lead to anxiety and make your condition worse.

A 2008 study published in Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience reports that subjective and objective sleep disturbance in depression is prevalent, distressing and often unresolved by treatment. Sleep disturbance indicates significant alterations in brain neurotransmitter function, as well as leading to significant impairments in quality of life.

Another study published in 2009 in the International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice further proved the prevalence of sleep problems in people with depression. Researchers found that out of 531 patients with depression, 97 percent reported experiencing insomnia. Of those, 59 percent reported that lack of sleep severely affected the quality of their lives.

5. Migraines

Much like chronic pain, headaches and migraines are also linked to depression. While depression can lead to headaches, it is also a common symptom in people with migraine headaches.

Migraines can be the reason behind the development of mood disorders likes depression, or vice versa. The link is even stronger in people who experience migraines with aura, which means people see flashing lights or stars during a migraine attack.

A 2009 study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry suggests that there is a specific association between depression and migraines with aura. The association is mainly due to overlapping etiological risk factors.

Similarly, a 2011 study published in the Journal of Headache and Pain reports that those who get migraines with aura are more likely to suffer from depression than people who have migraines without aura.

Another study published in 2013 in Cephalalgia: An International Journal of Headache found that middle-aged women with migraine or non-migraine headaches are at increased risk of incident depression.

6. Skin Problems

Stress hormones are damaging to your skin. Depression is associated with elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol, so it is common to see skin problems in people suffering from depression. It can even worsen conditions like eczema, psoriasis and acne.

According to a 2005 report by Dermatologic Clinics, psychiatric disturbance is reported in approximately 30 percent of dermatology patients.

Furthermore, a 2015 study published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology found that depression and anxiety were common in patients with psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, hand eczema and leg ulcers.

The link between depression and skin problems may be due to self-negligence, which is a common side effect of depression.

7. Chest Pain

Chest pain is a well-known symptom of heart problems. What many people don’t know is that chest pain is linked to depression and vice versa.

Depression can affect heart rhythms, increase blood pressure and elevate insulin, cholesterol and stress hormone levels.

A 1998 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine reports clinical depression appears to be an independent risk factor for incident coronary artery disease for several decades after the onset of the clinical depression.

A 2011 study published in Psychophysiology suggests that a dysfunctional biological stress system is at play among depressed individuals. The study emphasizes the importance of testing people suffering from major depression for cardiovascular disease.

A 2013 study published in Circulation found that people with heart failure who are moderately or severely depressed have four times the risk for early death and double the risk for being hospitalized as compared to people who are not depressed.

8. Poor Oral Heath

Depression can also take a toll on your oral health. This is primarily a result of lack of self-care, which commonly occurs with depression.

In a 2014 study published by the International & American Associations for Dental Research, researchers found that depression and anxiety are associated with tooth loss, mainly due to depression causing individuals to be negligent in self-care.

A study published in 2015 in Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology found that depression was significantly associated with the number of decayed teeth only among participants aged 35 to 54 years old and not with other age groups.

Also a recent 2016 study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders notes that today, mental health clinicians should be aware of the oral consequences of inappropriate diet and psychotropic medication that people with depression deal with and should take necessary steps to ensure good oral health.

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