Depression is a chronic disease so staying abreast of your mental thermostat is important.
One of the things that medical students always love to use when they’re studying tons of information are pneumonics. I too learned the pneumonic for depression.
It’s called SIG E caps and like most pneumonic I’m not sure who originated it. When a physician writes a prescription, they write SIG, which means directions. The E Caps stands for energy capsules. Because people who are depressed lack energy. The diagnosis requires five signs and symptoms. One of which has to be depressed mood or anhedonia.
the S stands for sleep, people who have depression may notice that they’re sleeping more during the daytime, going to sleep and having early morning awakenings with inability to return to sleep. People who have depression will either sleep a lot, hypersomnia or they’ll have insomnia where they can’t sleep.
The I stands for interest. loss of interest in things that pleasure you, also known as Anhedonia. People who enjoy being sociable may become recluses. People who love the arts feel like they could take it or leave it. None of the things you know you’re passionate about do anything for you anymore.
The G stands for guilt, which also can go along with feelings of worthlessness. People with depression devalue themselves and tend to blame themselves for things outside of their control.
The E stands for lack of energy which is what really brings most people to clinical attention. No matter how much sleep you get you are tired ALL the time and lack the energy to do things you used to do with barely a thought.
The C stands for cognition difficulty concentrating. You may find it more difficult to think through equations which can be very detrimental obviously if you are in a professional school and trying to study a lot (One of the reasons we’ve made this book available as an audio is because people suffering with depression may find reading comprehension becomes difficult) You may notice difficulty with word finding and word choice or just feeling mentally dull.
The A is for appetite. Sometimes it’s a loss of appetite and the desire to care for yourself, but for some emotional eaters it can bring an increase in eating comfort food so it’s really that change of appetite.
The P in SIG E caps is for its for psycho-motor agitation or retardation. Individuals may show more agitation or anxious movements. Such as pacing and fidgeting. Conversely, they may have what’s called retardation, which is more lethargic sloth like movements.
The S which is stands for suicidal ideation. Having more preoccupation with death and thoughts of committing suicide.
It’s not something that just happened one day. Depression is not having a bad day or just being in a bad mood. It’s having at least 5 of those symptoms with one being loss of interest in pleasurable activities for most days of the week for two weeks.
Sadness is a normal emotion that everyone experiences at some point in their life. It is usually caused by a specific circumstance like a break up, death of a close loved one, financial stress or losing a job. Unlike sadness, Depression doesn’t need a trigger. While there are life events that can increase one’s risk of having a depressive episode, depression can occur even when everything seems to be outwardly fine. Sadness may last for a few days, but you are still able to enjoy things that usually give you pleasure. Someone dealing with depression feels sad and hopeless about everything and nothing is pleasurable.
Few people who slide into a major depression will notice the early signs and distinguish the difference. Depression can occur without external circumstances. You don’t have to have stress, loss of relationship, or deaths in your family. That’s the hard part. While all of those things can certainly increase your risk for an episode, by themselves, they are not the cause. By the time people come to see me, they’ve known “something” was wrong for a long time they “haven’t been themselves lately.” Sometimes their life seems to be fine and they have “everything they need and have no reason to feel this way.” This is especially true of my patients who have a strong faith background. They feel guilty for not having an attitude of gratitude and being sad. Depression can strike even those of great faith.
Remembering the signs and symptoms of depression are helpful, but knowing that doesn’t make you immune to it. Knowing the diagnosis of any disease doesn’t make you immune to it, even after you put on a white coat.
