What does Depression Feel Like?

What Does Depression Feel Like?

It can be hard for persons struggling with depression to explain to others and their loved ones how it feels if they have never experienced it. There is a common misunderstanding that depression is the same as feeling sad or down. But with feeling sad or down, those feelings are temporary and often go away after a while. That is not the case with depression, depression can last much longer and doesn't go away easily.

The symptoms or causes of depression can last for months or years and can make it difficult or impossible to carry on with daily life. It can disrupt careers, relationships, daily tasks and even taking care of yourself. Having depression makes you feel hopeless, and there is no other way than to feel down and bad about yourself.

It is a common misconception that being depressed is a choice, or having a positive attitude is necessary. The person's friends and family often get frustrated or do not understand why they simply can't break out of it. Depression is a real mental illness. It cannot be remedied by simply choosing to stop feeling depressed. Depression feels more overwhelming and hopeless than usual sadness or worry. 

Some Causes of Depression

Depression can be caused by a number of factors. Some possible factors include, but are not limited to:

• Genetics 
• Life events: Major life changes and stressful events may cause depression. These events can be a divorce, death of a loved one, job loss, etc.
• Hormonal changes such as menopause and pregnancy
• Drug and alcohol abuse: In some causes, drug and alcohol abuse may cause depression. Other times depression may cause a person to abuse drugs or alcohol or both.
• Some medications have side effects of making persons depressed.