I feel sad a lot, unmotivated, and I often can't stop crying for many hours. But I sleep and eat decently and I also can smile or laugh sometimes. Am I depressed or just sad?

I'm sorry to hear you're feeling this way. Sadness is an emotion you feel from time to time, whereas depression is a sadness we feel on a more regular basis. While this isn't something that I can diagnosis, I suggest you speak to your local doctor about this. Having depression doesn't mean you won't be able to smile, or eat decently so I wouldn't rule that out. By speaking to your doctor, they can take an assessment and evaluate whether they think you're depressed or not. From there, they can advise the best next steps such as seeing a professional, going for regular walks or maybe being part of a community? Rest assured how you're feeling now is not how you always feel. I know the first step is the hardest but talking to someone you can trust and is professional can be beneficial. I wish you the best and thank you for reaching out today.

Hi, it seems like you might be feeling depressed and feeling unpleasant. Depression is not just about sitting inside a locked room and not talking to anyone or someone who cannot smile or laugh. But it is something that a person feels within inside. Sometimes a person feels okay for the whole day but when it's dawn, he or she might feel sad or might want to cry loudly. Its completely normal to feel such way if it occurs to you sometimes but if it happens quite a lot, then you might want to get help with 7 cups therapist.

Depression is on a spectrum and although I am unable to tell you whether or not you are depressed; it's important to note that being sad is also justified. And that it should be overlooked just because it's not clinical depression. Try to be mindful that sadness will come and go, and so may symptoms of depression. It can help to talk about your feelings, writing them down, or seek professional help. A small gesture of introspection can help to relieve some of the stress and also provide more insight as you are forced to think about what you are feeling and why you are feeling it. I hope that you continue to have more moments in life where you are smiling and laughing.

These can be the symptoms of depression, however it is never about the diagnosis but the feeling itself. Sometimes it happens that you can smile and laugh meanwhile fulfilling the diagnostic criteria of major depression. This was the case in my situation aswell. Nobody could recognize my problem unless I unleashed my real feelings to them. If these feelings are persisting and they are disturbing your day-to-day life, please consider seeking professional advice. Also please note, that many things can mimic the symptoms of depression, including dietary problems, lack of exercise, unbalanced lifestyle and other somatic medical conditions aswell.

In my experience, it sounds like you might be experiencing some of the symptoms of depression. Depression can make it difficult, if not impossible, for people to get up out of bed and go about their normal routine. Just because you aren’t sad all of the time, doesn’t mean that you aren’t depressed. Depression manifests itself differently for everyone, so it might be of some value to you to go speak to a licensed professional. Being depressed doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with you. Just like you would with ADHD or OCD, medication can help regulate symptoms while you work on developing skills to cope with your depression in the long run.

Depression is not a ‘one-size fits all’ and everyone experiences it differently. Just because you don’t experience all the symptoms associated to depression or because your experience is different from those around you, doesn’t mean you don’t actually have depression and that your experience is automatically invalid. There is such a wide variety of symptoms associated to this disorder and you can’t evaluate it only by these characteristics. It’s all about how you feel. Depression is not necessarily a linear condition. You might have some better days and some worse days. You might feel happy and laugh on some days, while you might cry and feel unmotivated the next day, or the next week. There might occasionally be some triggers that make it worse. You might be experiencing a ‘less severe’ form of depression but it’s still completely valid and worth being taken care of. Don’t let others assume of your condition and invalidate your concerns. If you feel you might have depression, don’t hesitate to reach out for help. I hope things get better for you in the near future!

Depression comes in many, many forms. On top of that, a lot of depressed people are also sad. Being depressed is not a one-size-fits-all experience. Some people are fully functional, while some people cannot get out of bed in the morning. Some people are suicidal or employ NSSI, while others are not. Even if you do not have clinical depression, it's possible that learning more about how depression is treated and what it is could be helpful. A diagnosis is not required to learn from other people's experiences and try your best to improve your experience. That being said; nobody except a medical professional will be able to know if you have Major Depressive Disorder, Seasonal Affective Disorder or any other depressive conditions. Even though the internet cannot diagnose you, 7cups and other communities like it are full of people willing to talk and learn with you, so you can understand your experience better. :)

Remember that crying is your bodies way of soothing you and that it is a completely normal reaction. Some research even suggests that crying once a week is a good thing for your mental health. It is ok to cry. and when you are talking about feeling sad, and unmotivated that means you are not trying hard enough. You need to cheer yourself and try to find ways to make yourself happier. I guess you feel unmotivated because you lack friends. You need to start something new, try various platforms, try to contact new people, hang out with people who will appreciate you and your work

I would recommend talking to a professional about this! It's a very complex topic and without a proper chat it's impossible to say. It seems like this is affecting you a lot, so asking for professional help might bring you some relief. Feelings of intense sadness and amotivation can be also signs of few different disorders too. On the other hand, depression has many faces, so every experience is different, sometimes sleeping schedule and eating habits remain the same, but the person is actually severly depressed. I hope you'll find peace and happiness, once again, talking to psychologist would for sure make things much more clearer!

Depression is not a one size fits all. While disruptions in sleep schedule, inability to find joy, ect are all common symptoms they do not appear the same for anyone. Furthermore, there are many diffrent sub categories of depression such as manic depression, seasonal depression, major depression, and more. Being able to know what type you have may help you understand and treat it better. Depression may also be centred around one or a few specific things or events. If your depression is caused from work stress then you may not be be depressed all the time because you have times your not thinking about work.