Understanding Sadness vs. Depression

Sadness isn’t a new emotion for most people. Feeling sad occasionally—even very sad—is part of life and can be triggered by common events like personal loss, major life changes, or disappointments.

But depression is different, and when it affects your health and your life, it needs to be treated.

Temika Heyward, PhD, FNP, CRNP, PMH, and the team at Conduit Behavioral Health are dedicated to helping people manage depression and its symptoms. Here, learn how sadness and depression differ, what symptoms to look for, and what we can do to help.

Sadness vs. depression

Sadness is a common and normal reaction to a variety of life events, such as death, breakup, or job loss. It is also personal—what makes one person sad may have little or no effect on someone else.

Fortunately, feelings of sadness tend to be short-lived, resolving within a week or two. In most cases, the impact on daily activities is also minimal.

Depression is different. While sadness is a symptom of depression, the sadness you feel is much more pervasive and long-lasting, and its effects can take a toll on your daily life and your overall emotional and physical health as well.

Symptoms of depression

In addition to sadness lasting for weeks on end, depression is associated with other symptoms, too, including:

• Loss of interest in enjoyable activities
• Changes in appetite
• Weight gain or weight loss
• Problems sleeping or sleeping too much
• Low energy levels or feeling tired out
• Feelings of worthlessness or guilt
• Moodiness or irritability
• Periods of crying
• Difficulty concentrating or problems with memory
• Thoughts of self-harm

Depression symptoms take a huge toll on your life, making it difficult to get through your day’s activities and surrounding you with feelings of hopelessness.

Underlying causes

There’s another difference between sadness and depression: While feelings of sadness can typically be traced to a specific cause, people suffering from depression can experience symptoms without a triggering event. 

Without an identifiable cause, depression can be complicated to treat without medical support, leaving many people feeling ungrateful, worthless, and unworthy of happiness. Depression typically has an underlying psychological cause, like a chemical imbalance that alters nerve responses associated with mood and coping.

 Because it’s long-lasting and can affect habits like sleeping, thinking, and eating, depression can affect physical health as well as emotional wellness. People with depression also tend to struggle with everyday tasks, like getting up, going to work or school, completing assignments, or maintaining relationships with loved ones.

Treating depression

Depression usually responds best to a treatment that involves psychotherapy combined with medication and lifestyle changes. Antidepressants help you manage your symptoms and the underlying chemical causes so therapy can be more effective.

Many patients respond well to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a kind of psychotherapy focused on addressing negative thought patterns and improving one's ability to cope. Lifestyle changes, like following a healthy diet, getting more physical activity, and improving sleep habits, can also help.

Even though depression is a diagnosed condition, it can still affect people in different ways, and people may respond differently to treatment. Therefore, finding a therapy combination that works best for you may take some trial and error.

If you've been diagnosed with depression or if you have symptoms of depression, scheduling a visit is the first essential step toward getting better. To learn how we can help, request an appointment online or over the phone with Dr. Heyward and the team at Conduit Behavioral Health in Baltimore, Maryland, today.