"Recognizing the Signs of Depression" Dr. Fieve: "The signs are, lack of food intake, they start starving themselves. This is a severe sign, when you see someone that is losing weight constantly, unable to put on weight. The other thing is the isolation. The third thing is if they're in school, or not in school, if they're working, they can't get to work anymore. We're talking about a severe depression now, they start losing time at work, they start losing time at school, they stay at home. Those are the signs usually. Lack of going to school, lack of going to work, losing weight, and total isolation. And you gotta talk to these people, and say you're depressed, even if they're saying they're not depressed. You gotta confront them with this, and try to get them to communicate with you to talk about the depression."