What is the difference between sadness and depression?

Sadness is temporary. It happens when something sad/upsetting happens. It could be anything from your favorite charecter in a book/tv show/movie dying, to some one you know passing away. However some one you know passing away could also lead to depression. Depression is more a permanant sadness or it can be a feeling of hopelessness/worthlessness that lasts for a very long time and never truly goesa away. It could also just be a feeling of "nothingness"

I would say sadness is a very brief feeling compared to depression. Depression could last from a day or two to months and years. Depression would also be a much stronger version of sadness.

In my opinion, the difference between sadness and depression is that depression is constant or recurring sadness. If you are feeling down during most of your day, having low self-esteem, or always on edge, you may be depressed. If you just feel sad because of an event or thing that happened in your life, that is not necessarily depression. Sadness is a human emotion that is OK to feel, sometimes. When your sadness goes from rarely/ sometimes to all the time or frequently, that is a sign of depression.

Sadness is a normal human emotion, and can be triggered for a variety of reasons, such as getting a bad grade on a test, losing a game, or having bad weather. Depression is a more pervasive emotional experience with biological, psychological, and even genetic components. Depression can be triggered by biological causes, such as not getting enough sunlight and/or Vitamin D, low serotonin or dopamine (neurotransmitters) in the brain, and medication side effects. Depression can also be triggered by life events, such as the death of a loved one, losing a job, or breaking up with a significant other. Depression also can run in families, causing blood-related family members to have an increased probability to manifest depression in their lifetime. Depression can also be co-morbid with other disorders, such as alcohol and substance abuse and anxiety. While sadness can come and go like any other emotion, depression can last as long as a few weeks to a few years, and can even persist an entire lifetime if treatment is not sought after or effective. While sadness will come and go on its own, depression usually requires medication and/or therapy before a person feels improvement in their mood. Depression is a highly treatable mood disorder, and there are many resources available for people to rely on.

While abnormal/perpetual sadness can be a symptom of depression, sadness is a mood or feeling. Depression is a mental illness in which a person may feel lethargic, restless, sad, frustrated (and often guilty for having such feelings). People with depression often no longer get enjoyment from things they used to love and many have trouble simply finding the motivation to get out of bed in the morning or perform everyday tasks for self-care (eating, bathing, exercise, etc.) People with depression may also feel suicidal and may self-harm to cope with how they feel. Symptoms and behaviors vary from person to person and should be diagnosed by a professional, but if you think you have depression (or if someone tells you they think they have depression) go see a professional. Depression is a lot more than just "being sad" and the opposite of depression is not "happiness".

Sadness is a current situation that made you sad, but goes away within 2 weeks. Depression last longer up to 8 weeks and beyond.

Yes, I believe there is a difference between sadness and depression. When someone is depressed it is being sad for no reason. It is a meaningless, hopeless sadness, where sadness is being sad because of a reason.

Depression is a persistent low level mood we encounter that last for more then a few weeks with little to no relief when untreated. Sadness is a normal feeling we go through that is more brief and less hindering on our daily life compared to depression. In short, depression impedes on our quality of life while sadness is a natural feeling to certain undesired events that we can bounce back from rather quickly.

To me, sadness is a feeling. Something like, I feel sad because I failed my Biology paper. Whereas depression is something I would define as cumulative sadness or cumulative stress. It is when someone over thinks about everything that takes place around him, there is a chance of that person falling into depression.

Sadness comes and goes with reasoning. Depression comes around for no specific reason and you have no idea what to do to make yourself better.