Sadness vs. Depression: What's the Difference?
When you live with a mental illness you understand depression. You know how much depression hurts, the damage it can cause, and the fear that results from it. But it can be hard to distinguish a state of sadness from that of depression. And it be scary not knowing if you may be experiencing a depression relapse or, with any luck, just feeling plain sad.
Sadness may be a simple emotion, perhaps, but not when you live with depression. Not when every tear that falls makes you fear that the road to recovery you carefully walk will crumble at your feet. Depression a feeling of powerlessness, to say the least.
What Is Sadness?
Sadness is different. Sadness is often related to circumstance. For example, the end of a relationship, stress at work or home, and even things we cannot define. Sadness is human and sadness still hurts--but, I timidly argue, sadness does not hurt like depression.
First, let's refer to Wikipedia in a vague attempt to define sadness.
Sadness is a severe pain related to being sorrow, feeling alone and helpless, which results from negative outcomes. . .Sadness can be viewed as a temporary lowering of mood, whereas depression is more chronic.
This is better than I thought it would be, though I associate the phrase severe depression to less aptly define sadness, more so to define depression. I certainly cannot minimize sadness. I cannot define it just for myself; each of us experiences sadness differently.
That being said, I think the key phrase here is: "Sadness can be viewed as a temporary lowering of mood, whereas depression is more chronic."
Alright, how is depression different?
What Is Depression?
Wikipedia provides its inquisitive readers with this information:
Depression is a state of low mood . . . Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, worried, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, hurt, or restless. They may lose interest in activities that once were pleasurable, experience loss of appetite or overeating, have problems concentrating, remembering details, or making decisions, and may contemplate or attempt suicide. Insomnia, excessive sleeping, fatigue, loss of energy, or aches, pains, or digestive problems that are resistant to treatment may also be present.
My sincere apologies on this being excessively wordy. I tried to eliminate parts of it but all of those words apply to a state of depression and many of them differ from that of sadness.
How Do We Tell The Difference Between Sadness and Depression?
I say farewell to Wikipedia for this bit. I think we have enough adjectives at our disposal. I'm going to narrow it down.
- Sadness is a temporary state and comes and goes as negative situations also come and go. Depression is marked by persistent sadness that lasts longer than 2 weeks, but that's only one depression symptom (What Are the Symptoms of Depression). Depression requires assistance, medication and support. Depression can be chronic in nature. Sadness repeats itself throughout life, but there are spans of different emotion between episodes of sadness.
- Sadness is often connected to a life change, something negative, but depression can relapse at any time with no discernible reason.
- Sadness is usually without feelings of suicide; depression can be accompanied by suicidal ideation.
- Sadness can make a person take less care of themselves, but depression dramatically impacts energy, sleep, appetite and general well being making it very difficult to care for yourself, about yourself, or about much else in life for an extended period of time.
The important thing to remember is that when you live with depression, feeling sad can indicate a negative mood change, a sign of an impending depressive episode. More often than not, sadness is just sadness. Regardless of whether it's sadness or depression, check in with family and friends and our psychiatric team to rule out depression relapse. Reaching out is part of self-care.
APA Reference
Jeanne, N.
(2013, April 19). Sadness vs. Depression: What's the Difference?, HealthyPlace. Retrieved
on 2024, December 22 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/recoveringfrommentalillness/2013/04/sadness-vs-depression-whats-the-difference
Author: Natalie Jeanne Champagne
Hi Skye, I know depression can make us feel hopeless, but there are ways to treat it and start to recover. One of the most important parts of my recovery is therapy. It's taught me so many coping mechanisms, but it's also helping me make peace with who I am as a person, which is so important. Medication may also be helpful in treating depression and anxiety, depending on the person. I personally find that medication is very helpful for me, but I understand it isn't helpful for everyone. Another great way to help treat depression is reaching out, like by commenting on sites like HealthyPlace, so kudos to you <3
Thanks for this post. It really summarizes what I've been experiencing for the past 4 years after stopping drinking. Realizing that I've been depressed pretty much my entire life but used one substance or another to self-medicate because of extreme trauma experienced beginning at age 3. Living my entire life in delusion and suddenly "coming to" has been equally traumatic. I am hopeful that the fog will lift eventually. It helps to know I am not alone
I'm sad and often alone, but not lonely. Throughout the years friends and family members have become "Can You /Will You" people, often looking for handouts without advice. Last February my sister spent our deceased mom's social security check while my name was still on the account. Prior to our mom's death, she moved in with my sister and her family to help her with self-care. To pay my mom's bills for her, my sister had the SSI check transferred to an account she opened at the same bank and not only paid mom's bills, but her bills with mom's check. I couldn't close out the account until I received mom's death certificate. IRS tracked down any account from the same bank where my name was attached to my son's account. Years ago my son added my name to his account to handle his affairs in case of emergency. SSI collected the money from my son's account. This caused confusion with my son toward me. I had to borrow $1,055.00 to deposit in his account for overdrafting bills. I showed my sister the written proof fo what she'd done from the bank. She's in denial to this day saying that she did nothing, but said, "Mom passed away in February (2014), not January 27, 2014. And if it happened I don't have any money to give back ($1,055)." I say that I've forgiven this, but this incident resurfaces when family members invite me to any event. I opt out because my sister is always there, still in denial, and communicates with me like this never happened. I say that I've moved on. My off-peak hours are spent away from those family members and my family is small in number. I occupy my off-peak time with arts and crafts, tv programming, reading, music listening, poetrywriting, song writing, and working out, but alone. Those off-peak hours aren't spent confined to home. I do get out when I want or need to - not often though. Depressed - NO, Sad - YES, Alone - YES ..................... but NOT LONELY
The best time was when we loved each other without knowing we were loved by one another.
What depression caused from?
Can it be successful self-treatment without assistance?
I was very ill for about 5 years. I lost the ability to think rationally, and the worst part of depression was the feeling of being a burdon on everybody. Since being in recovery, I have had just one relapse. I was lucky enough to pick up on the signs and get help.
Despite this I do honestly believe that the scars caused by depression never fade. Often I feel like I am swimming in an endless sea, and now and again I become tired and stop treading water. I have to use conscious thought to prevent me from going under.
I use a thought process of defining the reason for my mood. I analyse what is making me have the feelings. If they are not based on life events or circumstances, then I make myself alter my thought process.
I would describe depression as an overwhelming, stomach churning emotion, which comes about without any particular trigger, and leaves you with utter hopelessness!
Depressed people are in a constant life threatening battle with themselves. Xx
Research from 50 years ago and today shows a DIRECT link between depression/anxiety/bipolar/schizophrenia and nutrition. I read yet another article today in Experience Life magazine that quoted doctors saying how physical health holds the clues to depression. One woman who had been treated with pharmaceutical drugs for years, with no positive results, saw her anxiety resolved when it was discovered she had a severe B12 insufficiency. My own daughter's "depression", which had been unsuccessfully treated with a myriad of pharmaceutical cocktails for 2 years, saw her anxiety and depression improve when she was correctly diagnosed with food allergies. I'm not telling people to go off their meds, but I would highly urge patients to find a doctor who will look for the root cause of their symptoms, not just throw meds at them. I feel like my daughter was a guinea pig, being experimented on to see what drug or combo of drugs might help her. It was a horrible 2 years of her life, and I am appalled that more doctors don't look for physical causes for these symptoms. As I hear more and more stories and read more and more medical articles, I am beginning to believe that mental conditions aren't the illnesses in many cases, they are just the symptoms. I am not a doctor, only a mom who has been through medication hell with her daughter and grateful I found a doctor who knows his stuff.
With depression you must act fast! Find a happy place, exercise, friendship, stop all alcohol, self harm & listen to your own recovery plan.!
This MAY take a clinician!Get advice on uping or adapting your tabs.Try to have fun! Go out with your family or friends.
REMISSION WILL RETURN.
Allison, I feel the same way! The tiniest thing makes me feel left out! And when people include me I feel I can't connect, or maybe some happiness but it is temporary.
Thank you for saying this! I feel exactly like this and have been diagnosed with depression. I am on 3 medications and still live this every day. It feels good to know that I'm not just being an immature whiny baby.
So wait; what if friends leave me alone and I constantly feel left out because of it? Is this sadness or depression? I have depression so that's why I'm wondering...
Hi Allison. I have the perfect article to answer that question. http://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/breakingbipolar/2014/06/is-depression-just-sadness/
Great topic and well covered. However, it's really not accurate to say that depression "requires" medication. Medication is an option, but depression can be treated by therapy alone. Also extreme sadness (ex: due to a parent's death or the end of a marriage) can affect one's ability to care for oneself, but for a shorter period of time.
Hi, Joanne:
You are absolutely correct! Thank you for pointing this out.
Sincerely,
Natalie
Excellent article to distinguish between depression and sadness. Very often depression is accompanied by increased stress and anxiety as well, which just compounds the problem. I find that just knowing you are not alone and there is help and you do not have to needlessly suffer alone, is a huge help for anyone dealing with depression and anxiety. Thanks for sharing.
Great article, it really helps to distinguish between just sadness and depression. Right now my husband is having a relapse of his depression, and is having anxiety,physical disturbances, too much sleep and little appetite. His pdoc had to take him off some meds and introduce another one. It just doesn't seem to be working, hopefully the new med will kick in soon.