What is the difference between sadness and depression?
Occasional sadness is a normal part of life. But, sometimes, the sadness persists longer than expected.
When sadness doesn’t naturally start to lighten within a few weeks, or when your mood doesn’t fluctuate, it might be more than sadness: You could have depression.
While sadness is an emotion, depression is a mental health disorder. Mental health experts typically diagnose depression when symptoms last at least two weeks and disrupt normal day-to-day activities.
What are the most common depression symptoms?
Depression can cause a broad range of symptoms and may affect everyone differently. Some of the most common depression symptoms include:
- Sadness that persists most or all of the day on most or all days
- Loss of interest in things you usually enjoy
- Lack of energy
- Irritability
- Inability to concentrate
- Feelings of guilt
- Feelings of worthlessness
- Frequent thoughts about death, possibly with suicidal ideation
- Sleep habit changes (insomnia or sleeping far more than usual)
- Eating habit changes
These symptoms aren’t exclusive to depression. Other mental health disorders, like bipolar II disorder, feature long episodes of a depressed mood as well.