Am I Depressed, or Just Sad? Four Steps to understand and get help for depression: 1. Look for signs of depression 2. Understand that depression is a real illness 3. See your doctor or contact Community Counseling Services. 4. Get treatment for your depression.   You can feel better. Step 1: Look for signs of depression. Put a check mark by each sign that sounds like you: ___ I am really sad most of the time. ___ I don't enjoy doing the things I've always enjoyed doing. ___ I don't sleep well at night and am very restless. ___ I am always tired. I find it hard to get out of bed. ___ I don't feel like eating much. ___ I feel like eating all the time. ___ I have lots of aches and pains that don't go away. ___ I have little to no sexual energy. ___ I find it hard to focus and am very forgetful. ___ I am mad at everybody and everything. ___ I feel upset and fearful, but can't figure out why. ___ I don't feel like talking to people. ___ I feel like there isn't much point to living. ___ I don't like myself very much. ___ I think a lot about how I might kill myself. If you checked several boxes, contact Community Counseling Services. Take the list to show the doctor. You may need to get a checkup and find out if you have depression. Step 2: Understand that depression is a real illness. Depression is a serious medical illness that involves the brain. Depression is not something that you have "made up in your head." It is more than just feeling "down in the dumps" or "blue" for a few days. It's feeling "down" and "low" and "hopeless" for weeks at a time. About 20.9 million American adults have depression. It can happen to anyone, no matter what age you are or where you come from. Depression can make it very hard for you to care for yourself, your family, or even hold down a job. But there is hope. Depression can be treated and you can feel better. What causes depression? You may want to know why you feel "depressed." There may be several causes: ▪ Depression may happen because of changes in your brain. ▪ Depression runs in some families. This means that someone in your family such as a grandparent, parent, aunt, uncle, cousin, sister or brother may have depression. ▪ Sometimes painful events or losses such as deaths can lead to depression. ▪ Sometimes the cause of depression is not clear. Step 3: Call Community Counseling Services. Don't wait. Call Community Counseling Services or talk to your doctor about how you are feeling. Ask if you need to see someone who can evaluate and treat depression. Step 4: Get treatment for your depression. You can feel better. Community Counseling Services is prepared to help. Just call (419) 562-2000, or stop in during business hours.