I feel sad a lot, unmotivated, and I often can't stop crying for many hours. But I sleep and eat decently and I also can smile or laugh sometimes. Am I depressed or just sad?

Depression comes in many different shapes and forms, and can affect people differently. Although some of the symptoms listed are similar in many cases of depression, they may also be caused a temporary period of my low mood. If you need to ask if it's depression, then you should probably speak to a health care or mental health expert. Try speaking to your healthcare provider, rather than self diagnose. But, it is extremely important to remember everything will get better!

It sounds like you are more than sad, unless something really traumatic has happened to you. Has a loved one died? Have you just had a breakup? Has something bad happened at work? What is making you smile or laugh? That seems to me to be a light in your life, move toward it! It's good that your sleep patterns and appetite are still intact, but if you are crying for an hour or more on a daily basis, you need to ask yourself why. This is a good time to get to know yourself. Write some of your feelings down, then get online and discuss them. When you're done write how your conversation made you feel. If you are making positive steps ask yourself if you want help. If you are not making positive steps get help. Ask a listener for ideas.

It sounds like you might be going through a rough time. Being said is okay and remember good times are just around the corner. Everyone goes through rough patches in their life at some point but those times will come and go. Everyday you have to remind yourself of the things that you enjoy about your life. Lean on the people who love and support you such as your family and friends. Maybe even a counselor would be an option. Venting what is going on will allow a weight to be lifted of your shoulders and that might make you feel less stressed out.

As much as I don’t think it would be helpful for me to diagnose you, as I’m not qualified to, and I don’t fully know you or your situation, from what you’re saying, that does sound like more than just being sad in my opinion. Being able to, or genuinely smiling or laughing doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not depressed. Sometimes the people who appear the happiest are going through a lot. Depression can show itself in many different ways for different people, and there’s no right or wrong, or absolutes with it. If you feel this way a lot, and have for some time, I would strongly suggest you seek professional assistance with it, talking to someone and trying to better understand and improve your situation is a good start to getting back on track, and making this easier for you to deal with. I wish you the best of luck!

What you are feeling at present is also undoubtedly a form of depression. The persistent feeling of sadness, lack or absence of motivation and crying a lot is also called depression. Not everyone faces depression in the same way. Some people cannot sleep or eat, while some can. Some people cannot work, while some can. Some people cannot get themselves to smile or laugh, but some can. Everyone functions in different ways. A difference in the degree and the type of depression may be observed across a varied population due to the different circumstances that they face throughout their lifetime.

I would not say necessarily say you are either. In fact, I feel like you are going through the same thing as me. We are just having a struggle dealing with the highs and lows in life. If you really wanted to choose, I would say you deal with very minor depression but nothing to be worried about. There is no fix, but there is a patch. Depression can be approached in many ways. I would start by attempting to find the cause of your sadness and turn it into happiness. There is no harm in trying after all, so why not give it a shot?

You may be depressed about a bunch of underlying things that you have not yet addressed. It doe not matter at the end if it is sadness or depression. You need to do some self reflection and see what you tolerate and what kind of people you have surrounded yourself with. Over time a lot of things add up, that you do not realize and you feel the effects in the form of other symptoms. So whether you are sad or depressed, you have to dig deeper and know the origin of such feelings. Some things may be hard to accept but it is a journey worth taking.

That does sound a lot like depression. Depression doesn’t always have to affect the sleep and eating patterns, nor does it take away the ability to smile and laugh. There’s many types of depression that can vary in intensity and duration. The lack of motivation is very important, though, as that can often be the biggest difference between “just sad” and depressed. To be able to really figure out which one of the two it is, you should think about how you experience joy during these times. Do you still enjoy hanging out with your friends or doing activities you used to like? When you’ve had an enjoyable time, does the feeling last or do you feel depressed/sad again the moment it’s over? Remember, whatever it may be, it’ll get better.

Well, those to terms are very different sometimes. Depressed is more of a consistent state (which seems to be what is happening with you) but then again sadness is more of an emotion that can traditionally pass over time. If you are consistently sad then I would say yes you can be depressed and should reach out to a trusted adult etc for help and support. Depression isn't something that can be treated by yourself nor self-diagnosed and you should definitely get support to help you move through this time period because it doesn't need to be permanent. Hope this helps!

Hi! Wow, that must be a confusing feeling to go through! I am not qualified to diagnose you, and you might consider going to a therapist or talking to someone about this, but it sounds that you are going through a difficult time in your life right now. Ask yourself questions such as if you've always felt like this, and if you haven't, think about what might be causing this kind of sadness, as this might make it more clear for you. These types of feelings are often confusing for people as well, as these are often symptoms of depression, but don't mean that it's depression.

It sounds like depression to me, is there a reason for the sudden change in emotions? Big life change? Sometimes even happy life changes can make us feel sad or depressed! B

You might be. Having trouble sleeping and eating are some symptoms, but not everyone has them. And when someone's depressed the feelings are not always constan. There are better and worse days, somedays you can work a lot and maybe even go out, and the following you might not be able to get up. It varies a lot, not only day after day but hour after hour, maybe even minute after minute. If you feel sad and unmotivated a lot you should seek counseling or see a therapist to figure out why, because after all no matter if it's depression or just sadness you're not feeling well, and you deserve to be happy

I think it is completely fine to feel unmotivated and sad sometimes as life is not perfect and its completely fine to cry it out if it helps you calm down. You are the one who can best judge if you are sad or if you are depressed. Ask you self is there anything that triggers and makes you sad or makes you wanna cry? is that just one consistent thing that just keeps bothering, or is it some less permanent and more temporary situation that comes and goes away giving you a way of sadness but then also bringing you back to happiness? ask yourself that :) and I am sure you will have the answer.

You could very well be depressed, I would say it is worth going to the doctors. I was the same, I spend about 10 years feeling that I was just sad but they diagnosed me and helped me massively. It’s not a scary thing, going to the doctors. Well, I was scared at first but as soon as I started talking, I couldn’t stop! They’ve heard it before, so it’s nothing new and it’s every persons right to feel happy in themselves. It will get better for you when you get the right support for you, you can do this.

You are just going through tough times. I just want to tell you to be the best you that you can be no matter. Rough times only make your stronger. It is sometimes good to cry because we all need to let emotions out sometimes. If you are smiling or laughing that means you have something to be happy for, you're just sad. Motivation is the key to success. Feeling sad is just another part of life. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. I want you to know that 7Cups will always there for you. Have a motivated day!

I understand that you are able to smile and laugh sometimes and you sleep and eat decently. I think the areas we need to address are you sadness, lack of motivation, and the level of crying you are experiencing. Are you currently receiving the services of a therapist or under the care of a psychiatrist? From personal experience, I can tell you that if your answers to those questions are no, reaching out to a therapist and/or a psychiatrist might be an effective way to answer your depression vs. sadness question. Also, crying for many hours and doing it often sounds more serious than sadness. 7 Cups has Licensed therapists right here online. I would suggest reaching out to one of them to help you get back on the path to mental wellness. I wish you only the best.

I can not tell you what you are feeling, but I can help you expand on those emotions. A lot of these symptoms do correspond with both depression and sadness, it’s very important to seek professional help if you are thinking about physically harming yourself or are mentally abusing yourself as well. Just know that it’s completely okay to be periodically sad, it doesn’t mean you have depression. Also, you are entitled to have any feelings or emotions you want! The most beneficial for me is to eliminate as best I can the negative or toxic things form my life making me feeling badly. Finally, remember you are amazing:)

Hi there! It seems that you are experiencing some symptoms of depression. The symptoms which you have listed as lack of motivation and persistent sadness are symptoms common with depression. I am not a doctor and I cannot tell you exactly what is going on. It seems you may have been hurt by an event or situation in your life. It's normal to be sad at times. Everyone gets sad. But because this is a constant emotion, I would not take it lightly. If this is something that continues, I suggest meeting with a professional. They will be better be able to help you identify and address the problem

I think it’s better if you can get diagnosed clinically, but from your description you might have depression. Depression doesn’t always mean feel upset all day every day, and sometimes your emotions can come through. Just like how laughing and smiling are responses to the things that are happening around you. Your senses may be numbed but there is always a possibility of reaction to things that make you happy. Otherwise in some cases, laughing and smiling may be automatic responses to hide your true emotions from others, while pretending to react normally to situations when in actual fact you don’t feel that joy or happiness. Whatever it is i hope you will be able to find happiness :)

I'm sorry to hear you're feeling this way. Sadness is an emotion you feel from time to time, whereas depression is a sadness we feel on a more regular basis. While this isn't something that I can diagnosis, I suggest you speak to your local doctor about this. Having depression doesn't mean you won't be able to smile, or eat decently so I wouldn't rule that out. By speaking to your doctor, they can take an assessment and evaluate whether they think you're depressed or not. From there, they can advise the best next steps such as seeing a professional, going for regular walks or maybe being part of a community? Rest assured how you're feeling now is not how you always feel. I know the first step is the hardest but talking to someone you can trust and is professional can be beneficial. I wish you the best and thank you for reaching out today.

Hi, it seems like you might be feeling depressed and feeling unpleasant. Depression is not just about sitting inside a locked room and not talking to anyone or someone who cannot smile or laugh. But it is something that a person feels within inside. Sometimes a person feels okay for the whole day but when it's dawn, he or she might feel sad or might want to cry loudly. Its completely normal to feel such way if it occurs to you sometimes but if it happens quite a lot, then you might want to get help with 7 cups therapist.

Depression is on a spectrum and although I am unable to tell you whether or not you are depressed; it's important to note that being sad is also justified. And that it should be overlooked just because it's not clinical depression. Try to be mindful that sadness will come and go, and so may symptoms of depression. It can help to talk about your feelings, writing them down, or seek professional help. A small gesture of introspection can help to relieve some of the stress and also provide more insight as you are forced to think about what you are feeling and why you are feeling it. I hope that you continue to have more moments in life where you are smiling and laughing.

These can be the symptoms of depression, however it is never about the diagnosis but the feeling itself. Sometimes it happens that you can smile and laugh meanwhile fulfilling the diagnostic criteria of major depression. This was the case in my situation aswell. Nobody could recognize my problem unless I unleashed my real feelings to them. If these feelings are persisting and they are disturbing your day-to-day life, please consider seeking professional advice. Also please note, that many things can mimic the symptoms of depression, including dietary problems, lack of exercise, unbalanced lifestyle and other somatic medical conditions aswell.

In my experience, it sounds like you might be experiencing some of the symptoms of depression. Depression can make it difficult, if not impossible, for people to get up out of bed and go about their normal routine. Just because you aren’t sad all of the time, doesn’t mean that you aren’t depressed. Depression manifests itself differently for everyone, so it might be of some value to you to go speak to a licensed professional. Being depressed doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with you. Just like you would with ADHD or OCD, medication can help regulate symptoms while you work on developing skills to cope with your depression in the long run.

Depression is not a ‘one-size fits all’ and everyone experiences it differently. Just because you don’t experience all the symptoms associated to depression or because your experience is different from those around you, doesn’t mean you don’t actually have depression and that your experience is automatically invalid. There is such a wide variety of symptoms associated to this disorder and you can’t evaluate it only by these characteristics. It’s all about how you feel. Depression is not necessarily a linear condition. You might have some better days and some worse days. You might feel happy and laugh on some days, while you might cry and feel unmotivated the next day, or the next week. There might occasionally be some triggers that make it worse. You might be experiencing a ‘less severe’ form of depression but it’s still completely valid and worth being taken care of. Don’t let others assume of your condition and invalidate your concerns. If you feel you might have depression, don’t hesitate to reach out for help. I hope things get better for you in the near future!

Depression comes in many, many forms. On top of that, a lot of depressed people are also sad. Being depressed is not a one-size-fits-all experience. Some people are fully functional, while some people cannot get out of bed in the morning. Some people are suicidal or employ NSSI, while others are not. Even if you do not have clinical depression, it's possible that learning more about how depression is treated and what it is could be helpful. A diagnosis is not required to learn from other people's experiences and try your best to improve your experience. That being said; nobody except a medical professional will be able to know if you have Major Depressive Disorder, Seasonal Affective Disorder or any other depressive conditions. Even though the internet cannot diagnose you, 7cups and other communities like it are full of people willing to talk and learn with you, so you can understand your experience better. :)

Remember that crying is your bodies way of soothing you and that it is a completely normal reaction. Some research even suggests that crying once a week is a good thing for your mental health. It is ok to cry. and when you are talking about feeling sad, and unmotivated that means you are not trying hard enough. You need to cheer yourself and try to find ways to make yourself happier. I guess you feel unmotivated because you lack friends. You need to start something new, try various platforms, try to contact new people, hang out with people who will appreciate you and your work

I would recommend talking to a professional about this! It's a very complex topic and without a proper chat it's impossible to say. It seems like this is affecting you a lot, so asking for professional help might bring you some relief. Feelings of intense sadness and amotivation can be also signs of few different disorders too. On the other hand, depression has many faces, so every experience is different, sometimes sleeping schedule and eating habits remain the same, but the person is actually severly depressed. I hope you'll find peace and happiness, once again, talking to psychologist would for sure make things much more clearer!

Depression is not a one size fits all. While disruptions in sleep schedule, inability to find joy, ect are all common symptoms they do not appear the same for anyone. Furthermore, there are many diffrent sub categories of depression such as manic depression, seasonal depression, major depression, and more. Being able to know what type you have may help you understand and treat it better. Depression may also be centred around one or a few specific things or events. If your depression is caused from work stress then you may not be be depressed all the time because you have times your not thinking about work.

I am sorry to hear you are feeling this way. Although I am glad to here that you are still eating and sleeping alright, and laughing and smiling, even if it is only a couple of times. I am not qualified to diagnose you however if you would like a diagnosis I can refer you to a 7 cups therapist. I understand that you are feeling down, what are some things you do to raise your spirits? ( examples: listening to music, writing in a journal, going on a run, breathing fresh air, painting, playing sports, exercising, drawing, meditating, etc.)