intense sadness or beginning of depression?

How can you tell the difference between just being really sad, or beginning depression?

-- Wed May 21, 2014 9:50 am --

it reminds me of the last time i entered depression. i had felt i had understood everything, life was making sense, and it many ways, it was true i understood these things. I thought i was in love. I thought it was real, i thought it was what i always wanted. Just like so many times, i think i am just destined for empty relationships , where i end up hurt . Or i hurt. I feel so hopeless

bipolarmusician wrote:How can you tell the difference between just being really sad, or beginning depression?

-- Wed May 21, 2014 9:50 am --

it reminds me of the last time i entered depression. i had felt i had understood everything, life was making sense, and it many ways, it was true i understood these things. I thought i was in love. I thought it was real, i thought it was what i always wanted. Just like so many times, i think i am just destined for empty relationships , where i end up hurt . Or i hurt. I feel so hopeless

I think this can be really difficult. Some things I consider are whether there is a reason for me to be sad that is an explanation for why I am feeling as I am. I often feel more flat with depression than sadness too but this is not always the case. I think this question is along the lines of asking about how to tell the difference between reactive and endogenous depression and I think this is very difficult except as I said to think about whether there is an explanation for your mood being low and if that is the case leaning towards it being sadness rather than depression. But things are complicated as things that makes you sad can also end up being triggers for depression too. Not an easy thing to figure out.

Sounds like you are not doing so well atm tho. Remember that this too shall pass tho - that is what I try to do when things are not good.

Hugs

Cracked

This is something I think about a lot. What's the difference between depression and sadness? Mania and happiness? Where's the threshold?

I agree a lot with what Cracked said. For me, if there's a reason, it's probably sadness. If there isn't, it's depression. That's not always the case though.

Depression walks with you everywhere, but sadness can sometimes be pushed back for a while. When I'm depressed, everything about me changes. My self-image, my feelings, thoughts, how I feel about my friends, my future, my job, everything. It's like the world turns grey, everything's fuzzy. Everything takes too much energy, energy that I don't have. When I'm sad, it's different. Yes, things may seem darker, but there's no "voice" inside my head saying "you're a worthless piece of sh*t". I feel sad, but I'm able to do stuff, I have some energy. Some things about me may change, but not like with depression.

I don't know! It's hard to tell the difference, and it's even harder to explain.

Good news, i am happy again

bipolarmusician wrote:Good news, i am happy again

Yay!

hahah YAY!