Feeling Depressed vs. Feeling Sad: What is the real difference?

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1376

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Apr 12, 2022

✨POV✨: Life seems hard with all the obstacles thrown at you, and you feel low about it. But what does it really mean to feel low? How do you make sense of it? Enough to help yourself out of it.

No shocker here, there's a major difference between feeling sad and feeling depressed.

It has become pretty common to hear and maybe even use the phrase 'I feel depressed' when things in life aren't panning out the way we want them to.

Life is abundant with our feelings, identity, goals, behavior, and experiences. Especially in this fast-paced and ever-changing world, it can become taxing and confusing to navigate how we feel and what we should do to feel better or differently.

There is an increased awareness of mental health, making it even more critical for us to be aware of our real feelings and what they mean. This awareness helps us make better decisions, cope using healthy mechanisms, and have more fulfilling life experiences.

We might gravitate towards using the phrase 'I feel depressed' when we're beaten by life, but is it sound? That's what we're here to figure out.

Feeling sad 😞

Sadness is one of the six basic emotions human beings experience and display. If one can feel happy, it also means that one can feel sad. As we’ve all experienced, sadness is a direct reaction to something that isn't working out the way we hoped.

It may be our academics, relationships, other personal goals, or even the loss of something/someone very dear to us.

Imagine if we wanted to score a particular grade on a school test, or wanted to get into a specific college, wish our parents were more understanding, find out that our crush is dating someone else, or have not achieved the level of fitness that we wanted. Or any other experience where a specific cause has the effect of making us feel low and disenchanted. These are all experiences of feeling sad.

What we want + not getting what we want = feeling sad

This emotion can be understood as a simple equation because it's a clear case of cause-and-effect. And when the cause fades - either when we've come to terms with reality or can turn the tables around - the impact of sadness also begins to fade.

If I am someone who has recently had a break up after a long-term relationship, it is almost inevitable that I will feel sad. But as time passes and I begin to move on, I will start to feel detached from the intense emotions I might have experienced when the breakup happened. And the sadness I felt will slowly begin to dissolve as other experiences and aspects of life take the level of importance that the relationship previously held.

Feeling depressed 💔

There are many layers to understanding what 'feeling depressed' means.

One of the first layers is to understand what depression means. Depression has become a common term in conversations around mental health today. We might know what it means, but this is a simple equation to explain depression to be on the same page.

Feeling sad + many other emotions + long duration + no clear reason = possibly depression

Depression is beyond the feeling of sadness because there might not be a clear cause for feeling sad (another layer). Unlike just feeling sad, symptoms of depression include emotional and physical problems (like weight and sleep pattern changes).

Imagine feeling sad endlessly, even when many things in life are working out. You think I want to untangle the chaos in my mind, or I feel like everything is a mess.

I've scored the grade I wanted or got accepted into my dream college or my crush has asked me out, or my parents are incredibly supportive, or I'm happy with how fit I am. Or any other positive life experience. Feeling depressed is when there's so much that I can be pleased about, but I can't help feeling detached from the experiences and continue to feel sad.

Another layer that marks the difference from general feelings of sadness is how long we may be experiencing these feelings. Feeling sad for weeks or months, or even years is not just feeling sad but a clear indication of depression.

If the cause of sadness is removed and enough time has passed since then, and we continue to feel sad (and maybe not just about this cause, but also other aspects of life or the world), we may be feeling depressed.

Another vital layer to be aware of is how the feeling of depression affects other parts of our lives. If it's becoming tough to function - taking care of our health, maintaining our relationships, or using our time for other activities too - our sadness may have increased to maybe be considered depressed.

Depression has many forms. To understand what they are, click here. To identify which form of depression one has, one must be diagnosed by a licensed mental health professional.

It is easy to find many quizzes online that may tell us the diagnosis. Still, these tests and quizzes should not be trusted as the final statement on how we are feeling - same as we can't decide we have a brain tumor because Google says one of the symptoms is a headache.

Let's understand if these are feelings of sadness or depression 🔍

Now that we have a general idea of what the difference is, let's exercise this knowledge by breaking down if these scenarios given below fit the feelings of depression.

1️⃣ I have just lost my grandparent, whom I was very close to, due to Covid. It's been tough also because I didn't meet them recently because of the travel restrictions. I will miss them, I wish I got to say goodbye and express how much they mean to me.

In this scenario, feelings of sadness exist. But to understand whether we are feeling depressed, we need to dig into the other layers - how is it affecting our public life, for how long these feelings continue, and if time is helping us heal and feel better.

2️⃣I worked hard to score well on my SATs. I even made significant changes in my life - like cutting down on social media, my extra-curriculars, and spending time with my friends - to prioritize the time I can dedicate to my preparation. But despite all the effort I've put in, I didn't make the cut-off for my dream college. I got into my 2nd preference, but I'm very disappointed and sad that I cannot go to my 1st preference.

Understanding this scenario may be tricky because this experience of rejection may or may not be linked to our self-esteem and self-worth. If it is connected, chances are higher that other parts of our public life are affected by this experience, resulting in more profound feelings of sadness. But if it is not linked, chances are higher that with time and the experience of a still-challenging academic environment, the feelings of sadness will dissolve.

In conclusion 🏳️

Even though both are similar in the experience of sadness, we can become aware of whether we are feeling sad or depressed by understanding the impact and intensity of these emotions. In simple words, we need to dig into the layers of the feeling to understand which one it is that we are experiencing.

Please Note 🚩

Severe Depression (aka clinical depression) is a mental illness that can be of two different types - mild depression and major depression (aka major depressive disorder). Common depression symptoms include prolonged depressed mood, low self-esteem, mood swings, loss of interest, and having trouble focusing. Other physical symptoms include sleep problems, weight gain, excessive sleeping, or difficulty concentrating.

Depression is also often accompanied by a mood disorder or other mental disorders such as seasonal affective disorder, bipolar disorder, or premenstrual dysphoric disorder. If you have such symptoms of depression, please use the national suicide prevention lifeline or contact mental health professionals to seek treatment options.