How do I know if I'm sad or depressed?

Depression is constant. It makes you not care about anything, and you just want to lay in bed and forget the world. It's different from being sad, because sadness can go away once something makes you happy again, but depression is always there hovering over you.

Sadness is normal but depression is not. Depression is a serious thing that can affect your health.

If it lasts longer than 2 weeks, you may be depressed. Reach out for help and a professional can tell you.

Sadness passes quicker, and at times can be very sharp and noticeable. With sadness, we know the immediate cause and can say with ease "These are the reasons why i am sad." Depression, on the other hand, is paradoxically a more subtle thing, yet is larger and more damaging in experience than sadness. Indeed, sadness can even be a manifestation of depression.

When you start feeling like there is no point in doing everyday activities such as taking care of yourself.

Your sadness if most likely depression if it is chronic, meaning it comes up more so than you would expect. Also, another obvious sign is having no reason to be depressed at all. Your life could be going smoothly, yet you find yourself feeling numb and lost.

There are tests to determine depression. There are web-based depression tests which you can take for assessment. Some sites offer a comprehensive and interactive depression analysis, along with anxiety analysis and analyses of other neuroses. Some common websites are MoodGym and DepressionCenter. However, these are the ones I like the most, as a conclusion to my research in this area. Select the one that suits you best.

Time is the easiest way to tell. Emotions change regularly and spontaneously, but being depressed is different. You're depressed if you're in a *constant* state of low emotion for at least a period of 2 weeks. Being depressed affects you physically and behaviour wise. You lose interests in things you once loved, you sleep too much or too less, your desire to socialise is practically non-existent and generally you feel quite numb to the world. Even your relationships with your family and friends change for the worse. Usually, sadness (although intense) doesn't last long enough to produce these negative effects.

Depression is generally characterized by feelings of sadness, emptiness, hopelessness, and sometimes irritability, change in weight or sleeping patterns and energy level lasting for a significant period of time. Depression is often not situational; it won't improve simply because a situation changes. However, depression can be triggered by a particular situation.

If you seem to be sad almost all the time every hour of the day for more than a year you might want to see a doctor so you can get properly diagnosed.