I thought depression meant extreme sadness, so why sometimes do I not feel anything at all?

Depression is so much more complex than that, Ive experienced overwhelming sadness, numbness, emptiness, sometimes just weakness in general, the lack of desire to do anything and so many other random emotions I never saw as depression. The stereotype that depression=sadness is inaccurate and harmful because just because we dont feel sad we assume were fine, which means we arent seeking help and in turn causes the depression to worsen. My most common symptom is numbness, I dont even realize it because well.. im numb. I dont feel happy or sad, I dont feel angry or excited, no emotions ever settle in and since I cant tell, it ends up progressing into other things like lack of drive and motivation and THEN all the sad stuff. Its important to pin point any abnormal feelings you may be having because they may or may not be related to depression and if caught early enough, can save you a harder time

This is actually very common in depression. Some people feel it as numbness, others as sadness, and others as both. Neither is the "right" or "wrong" way.

Depression is multifaceted and can appear in many forms. This is why the official diagnostic criteria have various subcategories, in an attempt to encompass the whole spectrum. The feeling of emptiness is quite a common aspect and it is usually what leads to nihilistic viewpoints and the whole "what does it even matter" thought process.

Depression has many diffrent forms ... Feeling numb or nothing can be a symptom of depression ! It's great that your in touch with how your feeling it shows great insite 😊

Sometimes, when we're depressed, we tend to think of every thing that's wrong with ourselves or the world around us. But other times we tend to feel absolutely nothing at all..

Numbness or separation from emotion is an extremely common sign of depression. Don't worry, it's valid.

Feeling nothing or emptiness is another aspect of depression. Everyone feels depression differently; for some people it is extreme sadness, for others the dominant feeling is nothing or numbness or even just chronic boredom.

Depression varies from person to person. People doesn't feel same kind during depression. It rises from different circumstances and thus provides different emotions. Sometimes we get so overwhelmed by our feelings that it seems that emotions no longer exist.

Sometimes we feel so much emotional all the time that we become blind to it and we forget what it feels like to be excited or happy and that can lead to feeling numb. I've been this way for awhile now.

Depression can be sadness. You are probably emotionally numb. Depression can cause that. You get so sad that it makes your emotions seem gone.

Different people experience depression differently. Feeling "nothing," blank, empty, or distant from your feelings is one way people can experience it, and feeling extremely sad is another. You can also go back and forth between the two.

Depression doesn't always mean sadness, it can have a multitude of symptoms, which include aggravation, oversleeping, undersleeping, overeating, undereating, and of course emotional numbness. It's perfectly normal to feel nothing at all when you have depression, but of course seeking help while having depression is one of the best things that you can do. Talk to a doctor, reach out for support.

Being sad and being depressed is not the same. Depression is a complex mental illness that affects your life in many different ways. One of the symptoms is the feeling of emptiness.

sadness comes in different emotions. not feeling anything could be a sign of loneliness which is normal with depression

You thought wrong. It's mix of sadness, emptiness, loneliness and other shit. Sometimes it's feels unnaturally good for short time.

Depression is different for everyone. I used to remember seeing comics about depression being "a black dog that follows me around all the time." Which really made me question if I was depressed. I didn't feel like I was being stalked. I was lucky if I felt anything at all. I felt empty and useless and like getting out of bed was a waste of every ones time. That really hurt me in the long run, since I kept telling myself "Oh, I'm not insanely sad 24/7 so I'm clearly not depressed. I'm just a numb, dulled person..." Just because you don't feel 'a certain way' does not mean you aren't afflicted. How we think things are and how they actually are can be really different.

Numbness can be even worse than depression, because at least when you're depressed, you still feel emotions, even if they are mostly negative or lowly. When you're numb, you can't experience emotions at all.

Depression doesn't necessary mean sadness. Sadness is a normal human emotion. Depression is a abnormal, constant, emotional state. Sometimes you feel normal. Even happy at times. Being depressed is basically trapped in a whirlwind of negative emotions with no apparent triggers.

Depression is, in fact, extreme sadness. Sometimes that extreme sadness can turn into numbness due to the fact that that extreme sadness is constant, which is why you'd feel that way if you're depressed. Feeling numb is a common thin between depressed people but it should be something that needs to be considered seriously as this is sometimes a reason which people use to inflict self-harm. Self-harm will not help you recover from numbness. If you are feeling depressed, you should speak with a psychologist to get help. They are professionals and will know what to do to help you better than us, the listeners.

Feeling disconnected or detached from others ,or things you used to find pleasure in doing, may be a sign/symptom of depression. Depression can manifest in many different ways and it all depends on the person and the circumstances around. My recommendation would be to seek professional advise from a trained person who can better assist you in figuring out your symptoms and how to properly cope with them. Understanding how depression affects you can have significant impact on how you overcome such circumstances. Although many people with depression may share certain symptoms, there are particular things that would affect you and have impact on your overall mental health. I wish you the best and hope you feel better!

Depression is the lack of dopamine in the brain, so when you are not feeling sad you can just feel empty

Along with (or other than) sadness, depression can make you feel physically and emotionally numb. It's possible that you don't quite know how to interpret it too. It varies from person to person.

The high level effect of depression on the human brain is that the chemical connections that make many parts of our brain function a certain way are absent or inhibited. Feeling nothing at all is a side effect of the connections in our brain responsible for feeling various kinds of emotions not working in ways they are supposed to. This is what sometimes leads to an absence of both positive and negative feelings, resulting in a senses of numbness, indifference, and/or not feeling as if we are able to feel anything.

You can be happy and still feel depression. You can be sad, lonely or not thinking straight and still go through it everyone has different signs and symptoms and how they cope with it afterwards. You're mind is probably blank because you've been avoiding all things for awhile so it's just a phase through it, until you recognize you need a change in your mood or fix what's in your reality then it would help to move forward with your life ☺

I'm sorry to hear that you are going through a tough time with depression, sometimes depression can mean different things to each individual who suffers from it, there are many many symptoms of depression, feel free to check this link out for more info http://www.healthtalk.org/young-peoples-experiences/depression-and-low-mood/what-does-depression-feel-emotional-cognitive-experiences. So you maybe persistently sad and unhappy, or you may feel that you're not feeling anything at all, this is the feeling of numbness, we feel numb when we are experiencing a lot of thoughts and feelings in our brain, it makes us too afraid to feel the emotions and make us depressed and therefore feel numb, however, you gotta try sorting your feelings out one by one and managing them and gradually learning to recognize what you're feeling. Feel free to check out our lovely 7cups Managing Emotions Self-Help Guide! :)

Depression can come and go. It can be extreme somedays and also be like it's completely gone on other days. It can be triggered by certain situations and then come back all at once.

Depression affects everyone differently, so it varies from person to person. One person might be extremely sad, but another can feel extremely numb, meaning they don't enjoy the things they used to do anymore.

Depression doesn't necessarily mean extreme sadness. Sometimes you get depressed thinking about things like if you're being bullied, or if your lonely. Thinking about all your problems at once can result in you being depressed with extreme sadness or being depressed and left feeling completely numb because sometimes we just want to shut off the pain and not feel anything instead of being sad.

Depression comes in several forms and one of those forms is called Dysphoria, it's exactly the opposite of Euphoria, it's the distinct inability to feel emotions. It's just another face of depression and you should seek professional help if it's been going on for a while.

Depression isn't just always just extreme sadness.. as there are many different types of depression. Depression can just simply being numb and not feeling anything.