What is the difference between sadness and depression?
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Last Updated: 05/03/2022 at 12:32pm
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Jessica McDaniel, LPC, LCPC
Licensed Professional Counselor
I have been practicing cognitive behavioral psychotherapy since 2007 with a diverse group of adult clients with various diagnoses, all races, and socioeconomic classes.
Top Rated Answers
Sadness is more of a temporary emotion, while depression is definitely a longer process and usually linked to a tragedy or shocking event, such as a loss. Sadness you can still carry throughout your day without too much compromise to your daily routine. Depression however comes with the feeling of fatigue, loneliness, and sometimes even suicidal thoughts. This is more of an extreme sadness, and usually comes as a symptom of an anxiety disorder such as SAD, GAD, and general phobias.
Simple: Sadness is more temporary and is a feeling, while depression is a diagnosable mental illness that needs to be taken seriously and is more long-term
Sadness is an explainable feeling.
Depression is all lengths of irrational.
There's hollow and numb.
Anonymous
January 17th, 2016 6:12am
Sadness is usually temporary depression has a sympton of sadness. So if you feel sad for a long itme that can lead to depression.
Depression is chronic and sadness is acute deprivation of happiness. Sad can easily cut of from life but in case of depression it is long term effect on mind
Anonymous
January 22nd, 2016 7:54pm
Depression is a more severe feeling of sadness and hopelessness, often accompanied by other symptoms such as: irregular sleeping patterns, loss or gain in appetite, loss of interest in activities you normally enjoy, or a lack of energy. Clinical depression is defined by such characteristics, and a continuous depressive mood which lasts more than 3 weeks.
Sadness doesn't last as long as depression. When you are sad, you might cry but soon get over whatever it is that you were sad about but with depression it may be hard to be happy and sometimes you can't even explain why you feel the way you do.
Anonymous
January 23rd, 2016 7:30am
Sadness is a normal human emotion. Depression is when a normal human emotion gets out of control to the point where it is no longer normal. Depression is a real illness. And skilled clinicians can tell the difference between the two.
Depression is a mental illness, it is longtime sadness that could include feeling other emotions. Sadness happens at a particular time and lasts a short period of time like any other emotion.
I would say sadness is a short term feeling and depression is more of a deeper, long term feeling, i hope this helped you out
Sadness is an emotion, just like happiness, anger, loneliness, etc. Depression is a chemical imbalance in your brain, and a diagnosable medical condition. Also, depression doesn't necessarily mean you're sad. Being depressed is more like being numb. It's like everything takes a tremendous amount of effort, and you don't have any energy whatsoever and everything feels impossible. It can actually be quite emotionless at times.
Sadness is when a person is controlled by emotions, such as easily affected and crying. A person who is depressed has lost hope in living and finds life very worthless.
Sadness usually has a cause of some sorts, while depression is a disease that can come out of no where, unprovoked.
Anonymous
January 27th, 2016 6:18pm
Sadness is temporary while as depression grabs a hold of you and latches on, keeping you entrapped..
Sadness is mostly temporary, depression lasts months, years, and is more noticeable and can affect daily activities and may lead to suicide or severe anxiety
An individual experiencing sadness may become quiet or lethargic, and withdraw themselves from others. Crying is often an indication of sadness. While depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a persons thoughts, behavior, feelings, and a all round sense of well-being.
Anonymous
January 30th, 2016 2:19am
Sadness is feeling down for a few days to a few weeks at most. It is terrible, but completely different from depression. Depression is like being engulfed by all your problems at once. It's like drowning and not being able to gasp for air. It's suffocating. Depression is something that keeps you thinking about all the reasons why you are a screwed up person. It is like fighting a battle when you are half dead. Depression is the hurricane in your life, while sadness is just a shower.
the difference between sadness and depression is sadness is based on your situation; depression is something that you suffer from no matter what might be happening around you. Depression isn't something you can just shake off and get over.
Anonymous
January 31st, 2016 12:35am
Sadness is a temporary feeling that is very short lived where depression is a long term sorrow that effects ability one to perform every day tasks.
Sadness is an emotion is temporary. If a certain thing happens you may get sad. Depression is a mental disorder that makes you constantly sad/depressed, sometimes for no reason.
Anonymous
February 4th, 2016 5:28am
In my opinion, sadness is short-lived. Depression may span over a longer amount of time, I believe.
Anonymous
February 4th, 2016 6:46am
Sadness is a human response that takes place when something sad happens while depression is longer.
Anonymous
February 10th, 2016 4:14am
Sadness is temporary. Depression is long term and effects many parts of you life. As well as make you feel things other than just feeling down.
sadness is a lower level of depression. you can get sad on simplest things. and if you didn't know how to handle it, you may get depressed over it which is a higher level of sadness. over here, you can overthink which is not so good for you
Sadness is usually a feeling that is able to clear up within a regular amount of time. Depression is something that tends to stick longer with you and is recommended to get help for. Having depression tends to impacts people's lives in a more consistent long lasting way unlike brief feelings of sadness. Though depression can bring on sadness into someone's life.
Sadness is a temporary emotion, usually after a bad turn of events and is often over a short period of time. Depression, on the other hand, is not an emotion, but rather a lack of feeling emotions over a longer period of time.
While a person who is depressed can be sad and another who is sad can be depressed, one does not necessarily mean the other. Sadness does not a direct consequence of depression, nor is depression a direct consequence of sadness.
Personally I experience sadness as a wet feeling; the urge to cry, sudden drowning emotions overcoming you, passing quickly.
But depression to me was a numb, empty dry feeling, I didn't care enough to cry but I couldn't find the effort to be happy.
SADNESS & DEPRESSION , a lot of difference because being sad is something that pass for a hour, day or a week even though sadness can stay always in your heart, brain and body but being depressed is something else that a lot of people misunderstand the difference between sadness and depression. Nowadays almost all the teens are in depression and can't find a solution... It's hard to understand because you can't even fall asleep crying too hard ( if you're depressed ) and if we want to save our life from it we must read more books, watch movies, play sports. and care less.
Sadness is a feeling and is usually more short term and happens because of a situation that made you sad. Depression is a mental condition that usually lasts a lot longer and is usually hard to 'cure'.
Anonymous
June 6th, 2016 8:45pm
Accowto me, sadness is a fleeting feeling that generally stems from temporary issues that may seem important in that given point in time. However, depression is a more serious issue that needs to dealt with professionally.
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