Depression Versus Sadness

Depression is not sadness. I think I must establish the difference between Depression and Sadness, because at least once a week, a new patient walks into to my office and tell me with the utmost conviction that he or she is suffering from Depression. Usually, I can tell if a patient suffers from Depression in the moment he walks through the door, and I must say that they are frequently wrong.

When a person loses the job, a parent or a great love, it's normal to get sad, not Depressed. Actually, it would be strange the lack of sadness in an awful situation like that. Sadness is horrible to feel, but is a part of the healing process. People need time to adapt the psychic structure to losses, and Sadness is one of the transition tools. Sadness is a part of the morn process that appears at the moments of loss. Sadness is not a sickness, and if a person doesn't already have the Depression Structure, it won't develop to Depression.

Actual Depression, on the other hand, is something completely different. People who already tend to Depression may have it triggered by a Sadness episode, but the two things can happen without any connection.

Depression is a common disease, though. The World Health Organization says that one in each 4 women and one in each 8 men will have, at least, one depressive episode in their entire life, and yet it's the minority of the population.

According to Isaías Paim, in the Depressive States, the psychic functions are disturbed in the whole, and the most typical symptoms are sadness, anguish and motility psychoinibition. In that case, we must say that sadness may be present in Depressive States, but it is not mandatory. One of the most important aspects of the Depression is the alteration in the way the patient values the things that happen with him. Depression is an Affection Derangement that compromises the psychic functions, mentally and emotionally as a whole.

The classic depression is the one with anxiety, crying, anguish and general dismay. In my clinic practice, I must say that the classic depression is usually the most common one. In those cases, in my professional opinion, the worst is the general dismay. The General Dismay, in depression, is the total lack of will to do anything. The patient's judgment is compromised and he doesn't see any reason to do anything. When the patient goes to a clinic is because someone dragged him there, or he had a clarity episode during the depression, and realized that needed help. In Depression cases, is very important for the Psychologist to have the family support, because they are the ones who will take the patient to treatment in the day he won't stand up from bed. In the really worst cases, the patients don't speak anything about Sadness; in fact, they describe a complete lackness of feelings, as if their emotional mind is trapped in a limbo.

In another article I intend to describe the atypical depressions, which are usually more related to physical states.

I hope I could help and feel free to send me a message if you have any doubt.