How to tell if it’s the blues or something more

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness week, Yahoo Canada Shine is exploring some issues affecting those with mental illness. Check back each day for new content and share with your friends. Let's keep the conversation going all year long.

At some point in their life, everyone is bound to feel a little down in the dumps. Pressures of school, work, family and everyday life can take their toll on even the most optimistic of us.

But how do you know when simply feeling a little down has turned into something more serious? When should you be concerned, and when should you seek treatment?

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, Ont., says depression is diagnosed by a combination of factors, including:

• A sad, despairing mood that: is present most days and lasts most of the day, lasts for more than two weeks and impairs one's performance at work, at school or in social relationships.

CAMH also lists the following symptoms of depression:

• changes in appetite and weight

• sleep problems

• loss of interest in work, hobbies, people or sex

• withdrawal from family members and friends

• feeling useless, hopeless, excessively guilty, pessimistic or having low self-esteem

• agitation or feeling slowed down

• irritability

• fatigue

• trouble concentrating, remembering and making decisions

• crying easily, or feeling like crying but being not able to

• thoughts of suicide (which should always be taken seriously)

• loss of touch with reality, hearing voices (hallucinations) or having strange ideas (delusions)

It's also worth noting that depression is often times accompanied by anxiety, which can play an even bigger role than the depression itself.

"Symptoms of feeling anxious and unnatural a lot of the time, not sleeping well, feeling like you're about to jump out of your skin; having panic attacks where you have trouble breathing and you feel nauseated and think you're going to faint, or feeling really, really terrified. Those are symptoms of anxiety or panic," says Dr. Donna Stewart, Psychiatry Professor at University of Toronto, Director of Women's Health at University Health Network (UHN) and Senior Scientist at UHN.

Stewart adds that just as frequently as anxiety and depression go hand in hand, the treatment for anxiety disorders is often very similar to the treatment of depression.

If you believe that you or a loved one is suffering from a mental illness, these online resources may help you figure out what's going on, and can also offer a way to open the conversation with your health care provider.