ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Am I Sad or Depressed?

Updated on July 24, 2018
Rfordin profile image

Rebecca has been a freelancer online for 10+ years. She enjoys writing, editing and being a stay-at-home mom to two beautiful little girls.

Is it Sadness or Depression?

I'm sure at one point or another you have been overcome by sadness. Whatever the cause of that sadness; be it the death of a loved one, loss of a job, or life troubles in general. Sadness stinks.

When flooded with sad thoughts you may start to wonder is this normal sadness? Am I sad? Am I depressed? Wait - what's the difference?

What is Sadness?

Sadness has a simple definition, according to dictionary.com, sadness is when someone is affected by unhappiness or grief. An event took place that led to the feelings of sadness. Sadness is an emotion. As people begin to heal from the wounds that created the sadness a person is often able to pull themselves through their sadness "slump."

Sadness can also be replaced by periods of joy, happiness, and the ability to see through the negative emotions to anticipate positive emotions.

What is Depression?

According to the American Psychiatric Association, "Depression is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Depression It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease a person’s ability to function at work and at home."

Depression robs you of your motivation, spirit and the ability to focus on anything positive. Depression robs you of your self-esteem and makes you feel an overwhelming sense of exhaustion. Feelings of hopelessness and helplessness are not uncommon.

Symptoms of Depression

The main symptoms of depression as classified by the DSM-IV are:

  • Fatigue or loss of energy
  • Feelings of worthlessness or guilt
  • Impaired or lack of concentration
  • Insomnia (inability to sleep)
  • Hypersomnia (sleeping all day)
  • Irritability
  • Lack of interest in activities once enjoyed
  • Unjustified aches or pains
  • Recurring thoughts of death or suicide
  • A sense of restlessness (racing thoughts, inability to sit still)
  • Significant changes in weight (loss or gain)

How Common Is Depression?

Hopefully, you find some comfort in knowing that you are not alone, in fact, according to the National Institute of Mental Health "an estimated 16.2 million people a year experience at least one major depressive episode." That's roughly 6.7% of all adults.

Is Depression All In My Mind?

Some people might argue that depression is all in your mind. You may hear "come on just snap out of it." Some people may even downplay how serious clinical depression can be. While depression is definitely in your mind (brain), it's not something that a person suffering from true depression can "snap out of." In fact, these kinds of comments are very discouraging to the person suffering from depression. Depression is a brain disease, a disease where the brain lacks the proper chemicals needed to balance things out. For more information on neurotransmitters and depression click here.

A Bucket Analogy On Depression

In the picture above you see two buckets. One bucket, the bucket that represents the normal brain, is full of water. No water will leak out of that bucket unless it is tipped over or spilled.

The second bucket, representing the depressed brain, is full of holes. Nothing can keep that bucket completely full. That bucket could have a constant stream of water being poured into it and still would never be completely full.

Depression is Treatable

The depressed brain is similar to a bucket with holes. The depressed brain has all the capabilities of the normal brain but is unable to recover as easily as the normal brain can. The depressed brain needs help to heal its holes.

Luckily, a person who suffers from depression has many ways to help heal their brain and move forward. With proper treatment, the chemicals the depressed brain lacks can be restored, and the sufferer can begin to heal.

Speak With Your Doctor

Before being diagnosed with clinical depression, your treating physician should run tests to rule out any underlying factors such as drug abuse, hyperthyroidism, hyperthyroidism, etc. For a definitive diagnosis of clinical depression to be made 3 or more symptoms must be present, lasting at least two weeks at a time.

When speaking with your doctor, be honest, and remember to mention if you've suffered any traumatic life circumstances in the preceding months. A complete family history may also provide valuable insight for your treating physician.

Remember, depression has a wide variety of treatment options, and with determination and cooperation you and your doctor can figure out what works best for you.

© 2012 Rfordin

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)