Sadness Or Depression? How To Know It’s More Than Just The Blues

[LoShiNi]

Humans experience a wide range of emotions, and sadness is one of them. It’s OK to feel blue occasionally, but sometimes people don’t realize that what they are suffering from is not just sadness, but depression – a serious mental condition that requires treatment. Both of these conditions may be caused by stressful situations. So you should find some hobby which will relax you:


Let’s take a look at sadness first:

- when you’re just sad, it’s usually for a reason (the reason may be obscure, though);

- you can still find joy in things you normally like doing;

- you don’t experience dramatic and persistent changes in your sleep schedule and eating habits;



- your sadness can go away for some time and give way to a feeling of happiness, especially when you’re engaged in your favorite activities;

- you may have self-critical or self-punishing thoughts, but they don’t occupy your mind all the time.

Sadness goes away on its own after some time, and you get back to your normal life.

Depression, on the other hand, doesn’t just pass. It’s a mental condition that alters the way your brain functions. It manifests in both psychological and physical symptoms.


There is a set of criteria that mental health professionals use to diagnose depression. A person is diagnosed with depression if he or she has had the symptoms for at least two weeks. Here’s a list of symptoms of depression:

- being depressed or irritable (almost) all the time;

- being uninterested in things or activities you used to enjoy;

- increased or decreased appetite, leading to weight gain or weight loss respectively;

- trouble falling and staying asleep, or sleeping more than you normally do;

- feeling extremely tired;

- feeling worried for no apparent reason;

- feeling unloved, worthless and insignificant, and also guilty;

- having difficulties with thinking, memory, concentration, creativity, and decision-making;

- having thoughts about self-harm and suicide.

Depressed people don’t necessarily have all of the symptoms described above. The symptoms have different degrees of severity, and additional symptoms may appear over the time.

Depression can have a significant negative impact on the quality of your life and your relationships with your loved ones. If you have the symptoms of depression, you should seek medical help. Many treatments are available these days, and researchers work on creating new methods to treat depression and improving existing ones.

Remember, you’re not alone in this – with the right treatment and with support of your friends and family, you will get better.