Feelings

• Having prolonged depressed mood
• Feeling anxious, worried, and having intrusive, upsetting thoughts
• Becoming emotional or upset for no particular reason
• Don’t want to see people or don’t feel comfortable to be left alone; see social activities as something unmanageable.

Thoughts

• Seeing oneself as a burden to others
• Seeing no future, loss of hope
• Feeling of having no confidence
• Feeling that life is unfair
• Feeling that life is “passing you by”
• Feeling worthless; All you’ve ever done is making mistakes and that’s all that you ever will do.
• Feeling life isn’t worth living.

Behaviours

• Feeling shortness of temper, or irritability
• Having difficulties in making decisions
• Doing less of what you used to enjoy
• Feeling as if even the smallest tasks are sometimes unattainable
• Spending a lot of time thinking about what is wrong about yourself; may also feel guilty when being criticized by others
• Having thoughts of death or becoming suicidal

Physical conditions

• Having difficulties in concentrating during the day
• Suffering from sudden increase or decrease of appetite
• Suddenly increasing or decreasing in body weight
• Having disrupted sleep, sometimes with nightmares; Persisting insomnia or feel sleepy all the time
• Getting up earlier than usual in the mornings or having difficulty getting back to sleep; being exhausted on wakings
• Always feeling tired
• Suffering from aches and pains which appear to have no physical cause

If the above-mentioned symptoms have persisted for more than two weeks, and that they are remarkably affecting performance at school or work and interpersonal relationships, don’t hesitate! Make a call to counselling hotlines, or seek advice from your physician immediately! You may also schedule an appointment with a school counsellor, educational/clinical psychologist, or psychiatrist to discuss your problems.