Though it is common to face the feeling of sadness, grief, and sorrow at some point in our lives, depression is a serious condition which needs to be unmasked and knocked out.
Most of us often confuse between sadness and Depression. And therefore, It is imperative to know the differences and take appropriate measures.
14 differences between sadness and depression
The foremost difference between sadness and depression is that sadness is a temporary feeling.
On the other hand, the feeling of depression is over an extended period, can last even for a lifetime.
Sadness is an emotional pain which is a reaction to situations. The reasons for sadness are apparent. It could be linked to the death of a closed one, financial losses, failures, homesickness, breakups, fight with the best friend, and so on…
Depression is a serious medical illness where one is sad about everything. A situation where everything is fine but the person still feels miserable. Shockingly, there is no apparent reason for depression. Yes, you read it right. A person can feel depressed for no reason.
A sad person craves for the moments once rejoiced; they miss the activities which used to excite them.
In case of a depressed person, nothing seems to pull their interest, not even the things which used to give them pleasure earlier…
A sad person relates their sadness only to the causes of sadness. They do not trigger their overthinking mode. The intensity of pain is confined to the reasons for sadness.
A depressed person is already hurt. And so, they get affected by petty issues beyond boundaries. They overthink about it. In the process, find self-hurting reasons which have no relevance to the primary cause. As a result, the intensity of pain is unbearable.
Feel is the essence of happiness. When a person is sad, he/she doesn’t lose the ability to feel.
With depression, the person loses the ability to feel. They feel less and think more. In extreme stages of depression, the feel quotient is almost dead, and the person stops getting affected by anything and everything happening around.
When a person feels sad, the motive in their life never subsides. He/She does not give up on their dreams, passion, goals, and ambitions.
A person feeling depressed does not have aims and aspirations. They have no purpose in life. They are unaware of where their life is leading to.
A sad person follows the routinary sleep and diet patterns. Even if the pattern gets disturbed, it is for a short time span.
In case of a depressed person, it lasts way longer than that… the person may become an insomniac or sleep all day…With diet, either they don’t eat at all or keep munching on abnormal quantities at abnormal timings.
With sadness, one does not feel tired and fatigue the whole day, every day. The reasons can be attributed to the causes of sadness.
With depression, one does not feel getting out of the bed the entire day, every day. On top of that, the cause of tiredness and fatigue can be linked to literally nothing. Yes, read it right!!!
When a person has reasons to feel sad, he will be sad. When the intensity of reasons subsides, the bad mood changes to good mode. Quite a normal phenomenon…
With a depressed person, again, they might face abnormal mood swings without any clear reason. The way they experience emotions changes dramatically.
A sad person does not necessarily criticize oneself even if they have committed something wrong. Although they might accept their wrong to oneself, they do not accept it in front of everyone. They might put the blame-game on time, people and situations.
A depressed person holds oneself responsible for everything wrong happening in their life. They are always in a self-criticism mode where there is no room for self-love.
Sadness does not always affect the inner-self attributes like self-confidence and self-esteem. It is unlikely that a temporarily low mode affects the inner-self attributes drastically.
On the other hand, depression pierces the confidence and esteem. It leads to a negative attitude towards people, situations, everything.
It’s not difficult to get rid of sadness. The person strives to get out. They might try to indulge in something else to distract their mood. They at least try to let-go the hard times. And in due course, the person escapes from sadness gradually with the drop-down of intensity in the cause of sadness.
It is not the case with depression. The struggle to get rid of it can be intensely difficult. It is because the person depressed finds nothing interesting. The feeling is intense than just a low mood. They don’t know the exit mode. Depression does not subside on its own. It takes a lot of effort from the individual going through it.
The person sad at least knows they are sad. Even the people around know it. It is because the reasons are apparent to people.
Moreover, the sad person expresses and shares their feelings with people. It is because he/she wants to get rid of it as they are not accustomed to experiencing it.
On the contrary, a depressed person is confined to oneself. It is because they might not even realize that they are suffering from it. It is the reason they face problems in disclosing their feelings to others.
The lack of expressing makes their condition even worse. They do nothing to get rid of it. And, make their life a living hell. Sorry to say this but it is happening!!!
The thoughts provoked at the time of sadness might be painful but it does not instigate suicidal thoughts.
The thoughts during depression hit so severely that they provoke suicidal thoughts. Frequent suicidal thoughts are the symptoms of depression. And if you are feeling it, accept it in front of someone trustworthy. Because my dear friend, Suicide must not be proof of depression!!!
And here comes the most painful part…
People can recognize the person who is sad by associating the reasons to it…But it is difficult to identify a depressed person because the reasons for depression cannot be apparently seen. It adds fuel to the reason why a depressed person does not express their feelings and keeps everything confined to oneself.
Always remember, expressing that you are suffering from depression is not the sign of a weakness, but bravery. Be brave enough to accept it and battle it to win over it.
My dear friend, now when you know the differences between sadness and depression, here are the 14 ways to overcome depression naturally…And even if you are feeling sad, try to find out a reason behind it. It is because if the sadness is prolonged, it may lead to depression. Knock it down before it knocks you down…Take care!!!
[…] will definitely relate to it if you have ever faced prolonged sadness or depression… What better if you have never faced it. Because then, it’s an eye-opener to make you […]
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