Psychomotor

If you are depressed, your psychomotor function is often significantly reduced. This means that you think, speak and act more slowly than normal. It may present in the form of physical inhibitions such as

• reduced and sparse facial expression
• lack of smiles
• poor eye contact with others
• slow and brief speech; hardly saying anything
• long pauses and periods of waiting when you speak
• less animated communication
• sitting motionless for a long time
• moving at a slow pace and without big movements

Mentally you may:

• think more slowly
• have difficulty remembering and concentrating
• have difficulty making a decision
• not take an interest in yourself or the people around you.

You may even be unable to continue working

Psychomotor inhibitions are characteristic of depression. But they can also occur in other illnesses such as  Parkinson's disease and  dementia.