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How do I know if I'm sad or depressed?

341 Answers
Last Updated: 02/25/2023 at 7:32am
How do I know if I'm sad or depressed?
★ This question about Depression was starred by a moderator on 5/12/2016.
1 Tip to Feel Better
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I am an enthusiastic life-long learner and also a professor of counseling. I have a passion for peoples stories and helping to guide and empower the human spirit.

Top Rated Answers
Anonymous
February 7th, 2016 11:42am
If you are sad, you will hate the cause of your sadness but if you are depressed, you will literally hate everything.
Anonymous
June 20th, 2015 4:31am
If it has been a long period of time where you are constantly just going through the motions, then probably probably depressed. If a short period of time, then probably sad. The only true way would be to see a doctor.
Jennalovely2
September 30th, 2015 3:47am
Depression is a very strong sadness that last for long periods of time. Being only sad only lasts not more than 2 days.
BrokenDefinition
June 19th, 2015 6:56pm
Though being depressed or sad can both be upsetting if you fear you may have more than just a temporary case of the blue you may want to consider seeking help from a professional counseling service or your primary doctor. We're always here to listen though!
Anonymous
March 27th, 2016 10:28am
If you don't feel like doing anything, or like anything matters, you could be depressed. If you are sad, you usually feel like crying a lot.
Anonymous
June 19th, 2015 5:46pm
The length of how long you've been like that, if it was caused right after a sad event, any other symptoms and actions
Zora17
June 21st, 2015 4:03pm
Depression is like a chronic sadness. You'll feel down even during and after situations that usually cheer you up, and this will keep happening over a longer period of time. It becomes difficult to enjoy anything that you usually do. There will be a lack of interest in life, a hopelessness. You'll have more negative views of the world and yourself. Physically, you'll feel tired and sore even if you haven't done any hard activity. Getting out of bed and taking care of yourself becomes difficult.
goldirox47
October 9th, 2015 9:29pm
Sadness may last a couple days real depression makes it hard to get up in the morning to work or school You may rearly Feel happy but not long enough to matter and everything just seems hopeless but you can recover
heavenlygrob98
March 22nd, 2015 1:19am
Depression and sadness are often confused. Ultimately, depression is the lasting and pervasive feelings of sadness, hopelessness, emptiness, and lack of motivation. If your moods are affecting your sleeping and eating habits, your productivity, your work/school life, your friendships, or your life in any way, you may be depressed. Seeing a doctor or nurse could help you identify your feelings, and they could then begin to help you deal with your depression, or if you are just sad, your sadness.
IHateMyBody
April 23rd, 2016 10:38pm
Being sad is usually only once, it can be sad over something, for a few minutes, hours, days. Being depressed is when you are upset a lot, even with no reason and you get tired of trying to make yourself happy. You lose hope a lot and can't be bothered doing fun activities you enjoyed in the past. There is a big difference between being sad and depressed
WarmShadow8
March 23rd, 2016 12:58am
Sadness and Depression are two different things. Depression is a more serious mental illness where you get to the point that you can no longer eat, your body hurts physically, and you get sad and feel lonely on a series of episodes. Depression is more severe.
Anonymous
March 11th, 2016 9:14pm
There are several kinds of depression but the common thing is that you feel sad, sick and empty. If you are watching tv, you would just keep staring at it. Even if you are smiling you aren't actually happy. You feel like lying down all the time and every small task would seem huge. You may even be sleep deprived. You also start avoiding social situations. It may take days, months or even years to come back to normal. If these apply to you then you are depressed and must talk to a councelor. immediately.
Anonymous
March 11th, 2016 3:56pm
Feeling down, feeling worthless, feeling like nothing will get better, feeling like you're a burden to everyone including friends and family.
QuietKitten123
March 11th, 2016 1:21pm
If im sad or depressed i know because i shut my self away from my family and lock my bedroom door. It Sometimes comes along at times when i least expect it...
Anonymous
November 6th, 2015 1:51am
Feeling sad or feeling depressed are normal feelings that ALL humans go through! You are not alone. You might be sad because you have a chemical imbalance in your brain. Often I'm sad or I'm depressed when I'm not getting enough sleep, or exercise, or if I'm consuming too much caffeine, and working in a stressful environment. How do I know if I'm depressed? I talk to my partner, or someone on 7 Cups, let them know how I'm feeling, and in talking to them I can figure it out. I'd recommend seeing a therapist if you think you might be depressed for more than a few days/weeks.
Ginieboops
September 28th, 2015 8:08pm
Sadness is short lived around an hour to a day and has a clear reason to it. Depression sneaks up on you and doesn't always have one clear answer to its occurrence, it'll last a lot longer at a time, you won't cry as such but it'll feel heavy in you chest and head and your brain will just feel flat and under stimulated.
Dandroider
May 1st, 2018 6:32pm
Depression has a lot more signs than just being sad, for example the inability to motivate yourself, not feeling joy in things you liked before. To really know if you're depressed, you need to talk to a therapist/psychologist.
Anonymous
May 24th, 2015 8:23pm
If you are depressed, than you are thinking about suicide, you loosing your sene of lfe and you also loosing your apetite, if you are sad than you are just sad..
FirmThoughts
January 2nd, 2016 5:30pm
If you're sad, then you are in the state of being lonely for a moment of time but still able to work and easily do things just a little bit unmotivated. Unlike when depressed, you are in the state of being worthless, lack of interest, purposeless, and anything that involves life will come up to your mind, such us its meaning and how it will be spent, and commonly it is a chronic term that lasts for weeks, months, or even a year and its cause are mainly from tragic events, trauma, and family conflicts.
Anonymous
July 18th, 2015 10:24pm
sadness tends to come in waves. Being depressed sticks around. when you are depressed, you don't want to get out of bed. i've had a sadness that has lasted for 2 or 3 days, but depression lasts for weeks or months.
igetcha
January 6th, 2016 12:18am
When you're sad it's easier to pinpoint what it's about. When you're depressed you sometimes don't know why. You have a hard time seeing how it could get better & maybe even feel like it never will. You might also feel like nothing's worth working at or caring about. Depressed is when the sad takes over all your thinking. You can drown it out though by filling your life with people & activities that make you happy
Anonymous
March 20th, 2016 3:23pm
If you're sad or depressed, you will find the signs in your routine behavior itself, e.g., having a low self-esteem, worrying a lot, analyzing situations on an 'either or nothing' basis, withdrawal from activities which once looked enjoyable, getting irritated on the slightest pretexts accompanied by, in some cases, appetite loss or binge eating.
MajesticTurtle
January 5th, 2016 11:27pm
If you always think of the negative things of life, if you are always blue, if you don't have anything that makes you happy
Anonymous
March 13th, 2016 11:32pm
You will know it because you will stay sad for a long period of time or longer and nothing would cheer you up and nothing interests you.
Melica
January 5th, 2016 6:37am
Honestly? I have no idea lol. sorry for the unhelpfulness..
CaringJoy
February 6th, 2016 3:34am
Being depressed is when you withdraw from the things you enjoyed doing and withdraw from spending time with family and friends and having no desire to do anything for an extended period of time. Being sad is usually temporary and doesn't affect our daily routine.
Thanks4Calling
July 26th, 2015 12:10am
If you feel sad that will dissipate in time and you will probably be aware that you are just going through a difficult time, whereas depression can make you feel as though things are hopeless and can drag on for extended periods.
Anonymous
May 1st, 2015 12:48am
I too have had the same problem. I would suggest going to therapy to talk about your feelings and they can also help distinguish if you have depression or not :)
SympatheicSeal7329
February 5th, 2016 1:37am
Time and intensity. Depression is an intense sadness, typically lasting for months to years and often reoccurring without apparent cause.
elliejade
February 10th, 2016 5:52pm
Sadness is a normal human reaction however depression is an illness which affects your thinking, learning and other types of things. You will know by going to your GP and telling them about your symptoms, for example crying all night every night. Your doctor will tell you if you're depressed, otherwise you might just be sad. There is no real way of telling if you're sad or not yourself. That is in my opinion anyway.