The Difference Between Sadness & Depression
I’m writing this post with the acceptance that if you have
not had depression then you will not fully grasp how different depression is
from sadness. I’m not saying that to be patronising. I wish there was some combination
of words that could make people understand just how soul crushing, isolating
and ugly depression is but no word or phrase could do it justice. But I’m going
to try.
My Definitions
Sadness comes into
your life, usually as a result of some news or event, it adds a blueish filter
to a lot of things in your life, it hurts for a while and then it leaves.
Sadness is an emotion.
Depression slowly
takes over every aspect of your life, it steals any positive emotion (and
sometimes the negative ones too) and kills a part of you until you feel less
and less, smaller and smaller, until you feel like nothingness. Depression is
an illness.
Depression VS Sadness
Depression is hopelessness and constant and feels
never-ending and that’s why suicide can feel like a solution (it’s not).
Sadness is, well, sad. But even though it’s painful you know
that it is temporary.
Sadness is clutter.
Depression is emptiness.
Sadness is at the surface of your mind and as time passes it
evaporates.
Depression is rooted much deeper in your mind. You have to
dig and dig for ages to make any progress and once you do you may be too tired
to dig again until it has grown back and you’re back where you started.
When you are sad you feel too much.
When you are depressed it can seem like you feel nothing at
all.
When you’re sad you want to be happy.
When you’re depressed you don’t want to be at all.
You can usually distract yourself from your sadness. You can
go out with friends and briefly forget about how your boyfriend broke your
heart. A book or movie can take your mind off of your bad grades.
Depression is constant. Some things may help. When you’re
talking to your friends you may not be thinking about suicide, but your
depression still lingers around the cocktails or conversation. You may laugh at
a joke but there are still hints of hopelessness in your laughter. Whether it’s
at the front of your mind or the back of your mind, depression is always there.
Getting out of bed when you’re not depressed can be a
nuisance but getting out of bed when you’re depressed can feel impossible.
When you’re not depressed, after struggling with depression
for years, you can experience stress and sadness and pain but know that you can
come out the other side. Things that almost broke me when I was depressed are
still stressful and painful, but now I can manage them.
If something goes wrong or if you get bad news when you’re
not depressed, you can experience sadness and frustration and push through it.
You can adapt healthy coping mechanisms to help you manage the emotions and pain.
If something goes wrong or if you get bad news when you’re depressed you can
adapt unhealthy coping mechanisms, you may experience complete hopelessness or feel nothing at all.
When you experience sadness after having depression for so
long, you may be relieved to be feeling anything at all.
If you liked this post you may also like:
1. Depression: What is it like? What are the signs?
1. Depression: What is it like? What are the signs?
You are not alone.
ReplyDeleteNeither are you x
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