Depression – many readily diagnose themselves or others with this diagnosis, associating it with a bad mood, a gloomy character, a sad expression, and even a love of melancholy music. But it’s not that simple… A therapist helps you understand the difference between a medical diagnosis and negative emotions.
Being sad and grieving is not necessarily bad, in many situations it is natural. The loss of a loved one, failures in life, worries about tragic events in the world … Sadness can be light, bittersweet, and even inspiring. But depression does not have these bright inclusions – it paralyzes creativity and, in the worst case, can lead to disability or suicide.
The diagnosis of “depression” is made by a specialist in the presence of several (but not necessarily all at once) symptoms:
- Lack of interest in anything, loss of sensation of pleasure (anhedonia).
- Overeating or not eating.
- Insomnia or drowsiness.
- Restlessness or delayed reaction.
- Increased fatigue, loss of strength.
- Feelings of worthlessness and excessive guilt.
- Problems concentrating, inability to make decisions.
- Thoughts of suicide, suicide attempts.
- Loss of interest in previous hobbies.
- Pessimism, feeling of hopelessness, emptiness.
A depressed person often falls into a stupor. He is not sad, not happy and not angry
He does not experience the usual emotions at all. But everyday affairs do not bring him a sense of satisfaction, he suffers from inner emptiness.
As Sylvia Platt wrote in Beneath the Glass Bell, “I felt like a racehorse in a world where racing had suddenly been cancelled.”
Sadness does not occur with alcohol, drug, gambling addiction, workaholism and eating disorders. This helps a person to mask an internal problem and nip the anguish in the bud, getting temporary relief or even falling into euphoria.
Feelings of longing can transform into other emotions, such as irritability and anger. Those who are more comfortable showing aggression instead of fear or pain do not have time to “be sad”: their bad mood immediately transforms into aggressive impulses.
Sadness can also develop into obsessions. In this case, the depressed person constantly returns his thoughts to the object of love, to the moment from the past that he regrets, to the banal “is the iron turned off at home” and “did I forget to close the door.”
Sad experiences can cause various psychosomatic conditions: migraine, digestive problems, back pain
With depression, the situation is the opposite: multiple sclerosis, thyroid dysfunction, brain tumors or damage, inflammatory processes can themselves become a source of depression.
When we experience the loss of a loved one, plunging into the abyss of grief, a ray of light sometimes looms in our dark kingdom. This can rarely be said about patients with depression.
When someone who is sad complains, it becomes easier for him. With depression, tears and complaints do not bring relief. Sadness does not cause negative thoughts, including suicidal thoughts, does not lead to distortions of perception and detachment from reality, and does not prevent the manifestation of other emotions. With depression, our emotional scale becomes faded, monochrome.
Most people with depression suspect that something is wrong with them. The people around know about it too. Depression cannot be hidden. It doesn’t matter if your condition falls exactly under the official description of the disease: the feeling of internal discomfort month after month is a reason to see a specialist.
Cynthia Lubow is a depression psychotherapist and author of Ending the Blues: A Psychotherapist’s Secrets to Living Depression-Free.