How do I know if I'm sad or depressed?
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Last Updated: 02/25/2023 at 7:32am
★ This question about Depression was starred by a moderator on 5/12/2016.
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Top Rated Answers
Anonymous
February 7th, 2016 11:42am
If you are sad, you will hate the cause of your sadness but if you are depressed, you will literally hate everything.
Anonymous
June 20th, 2015 4:31am
If it has been a long period of time where you are constantly just going through the motions, then probably probably depressed. If a short period of time, then probably sad. The only true way would be to see a doctor.
Depression is a very strong sadness that last for long periods of time. Being only sad only lasts not more than 2 days.
Though being depressed or sad can both be upsetting if you fear you may have more than just a temporary case of the blue you may want to consider seeking help from a professional counseling service or your primary doctor. We're always here to listen though!
Depression and sadness are often confused. Ultimately, depression is the lasting and pervasive feelings of sadness, hopelessness, emptiness, and lack of motivation. If your moods are affecting your sleeping and eating habits, your productivity, your work/school life, your friendships, or your life in any way, you may be depressed. Seeing a doctor or nurse could help you identify your feelings, and they could then begin to help you deal with your depression, or if you are just sad, your sadness.
Anonymous
June 19th, 2015 5:46pm
The length of how long you've been like that, if it was caused right after a sad event, any other symptoms and actions
Depression is like a chronic sadness. You'll feel down even during and after situations that usually cheer you up, and this will keep happening over a longer period of time. It becomes difficult to enjoy anything that you usually do. There will be a lack of interest in life, a hopelessness. You'll have more negative views of the world and yourself. Physically, you'll feel tired and sore even if you haven't done any hard activity. Getting out of bed and taking care of yourself becomes difficult.
Anonymous
March 27th, 2016 10:28am
If you don't feel like doing anything, or like anything matters, you could be depressed. If you are sad, you usually feel like crying a lot.
Sadness may last a couple days real depression makes it hard to get up in the morning to work or school You may rearly Feel happy but not long enough to matter and everything just seems hopeless but you can recover
Sadness is short lived around an hour to a day and has a clear reason to it. Depression sneaks up on you and doesn't always have one clear answer to its occurrence, it'll last a lot longer at a time, you won't cry as such but it'll feel heavy in you chest and head and your brain will just feel flat and under stimulated.
If im sad or depressed i know because i shut my self away from my family and lock my bedroom door. It Sometimes comes along at times when i least expect it...
Anonymous
March 11th, 2016 3:56pm
Feeling down, feeling worthless, feeling like nothing will get better, feeling like you're a burden to everyone including friends and family.
Anonymous
March 11th, 2016 9:14pm
There are several kinds of depression but the common thing is that you feel sad, sick and empty. If you are watching tv, you would just keep staring at it. Even if you are smiling you aren't actually happy. You feel like lying down all the time and every small task would seem huge. You may even be sleep deprived. You also start avoiding social situations. It may take days, months or even years to come back to normal. If these apply to you then you are depressed and must talk to a councelor. immediately.
Sadness and Depression are two different things. Depression is a more serious mental illness where you get to the point that you can no longer eat, your body hurts physically, and you get sad and feel lonely on a series of episodes. Depression is more severe.
Being sad is usually only once, it can be sad over something, for a few minutes, hours, days. Being depressed is when you are upset a lot, even with no reason and you get tired of trying to make yourself happy. You lose hope a lot and can't be bothered doing fun activities you enjoyed in the past. There is a big difference between being sad and depressed
Anonymous
November 6th, 2015 1:51am
Feeling sad or feeling depressed are normal feelings that ALL humans go through! You are not alone. You might be sad because you have a chemical imbalance in your brain.
Often I'm sad or I'm depressed when I'm not getting enough sleep, or exercise, or if I'm consuming too much caffeine, and working in a stressful environment.
How do I know if I'm depressed? I talk to my partner, or someone on 7 Cups, let them know how I'm feeling, and in talking to them I can figure it out. I'd recommend seeing a therapist if you think you might be depressed for more than a few days/weeks.
Anonymous
May 24th, 2015 8:23pm
If you are depressed, than you are thinking about suicide, you loosing your sene of lfe and you also loosing your apetite, if you are sad than you are just sad..
Depression has a lot more signs than just being sad, for example the inability to motivate yourself, not feeling joy in things you liked before. To really know if you're depressed, you need to talk to a therapist/psychologist.
i usually hold my emotions in and i tend to want to avoid talkign with others and just not want to take my medicatons and i know that its hard and i just try to realx and have faith
Anonymous
June 20th, 2015 3:09pm
It is something that I can't answer for sure, but depression is generally more constant and debilitating than being sad. If you think you might be depressed it may be a good idea for you to talk to a therapist.
Sadness usually has a reason behind it, depression can come and go but doesn't need an actual reason to get you down, but it will make you feel like things are going badly so it can be hard for the sufferer to tell.
The best way to tell would be to talk to someone who knows, either on this site or a doctor or someone you know who's had depression.
Anonymous
March 20th, 2016 3:23pm
If you're sad or depressed, you will find the signs in your routine behavior itself, e.g., having a low self-esteem, worrying a lot, analyzing situations on an 'either or nothing' basis, withdrawal from activities which once looked enjoyable, getting irritated on the slightest pretexts accompanied by, in some cases, appetite loss or binge eating.
Depression is a medical condition that makes you feel bad for no reason ... Sadness has a clear reason ... If you ever want to talk, this is the best place to do it .
Anonymous
May 1st, 2015 12:48am
I too have had the same problem. I would suggest going to therapy to talk about your feelings and they can also help distinguish if you have depression or not :)
If you feel sad that will dissipate in time and you will probably be aware that you are just going through a difficult time, whereas depression can make you feel as though things are hopeless and can drag on for extended periods.
Anonymous
March 13th, 2016 11:32pm
You will know it because you will stay sad for a long period of time or longer and nothing would cheer you up and nothing interests you.
Anonymous
June 20th, 2015 4:21pm
There are differences between being depressed and being sad. Being sad is usually a feeling that is a result of a situation or cause. Being depressed is a constant feeling that occurs without reason. Being depressed takes over your life even when you feel like you should be happy. Sadness is temporary, depression is not.
Sadness is a normal human reaction however depression is an illness which affects your thinking, learning and other types of things. You will know by going to your GP and telling them about your symptoms, for example crying all night every night. Your doctor will tell you if you're depressed, otherwise you might just be sad. There is no real way of telling if you're sad or not yourself. That is in my opinion anyway.
If your sad, it goes away faster and is not as temporary. Depressed makes you feel like you cant do anything.
Sadness eventually fades, just like any other feeling. When you are depressed, feelings like sadness stick around way longer then they should. You may have lost interest in things you previously loved when depressed, or don't feel the need to do much of anything. It's important to let someone know how you are feeling, in whatever way is best for you!
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