What's the difference between unhappiness and depression?
If you were extremely unhappy 90% of the time would this be depression? What's the distinction between feeling unhappy and 'down' and having depression? Where do you draw the line?
I'm not really sure, but at a guess, I'd say when you're depressed you lose hope for the future, whereas with unhappiness, you can see a way out of your situation.
Original post by Anonymous
If you were extremely unhappy 90% of the time would this be depression? What's the distinction between feeling unhappy and 'down' and having depression? Where do you draw the line?
Good question. It shouldn't be decided in a vague way. The diagnosis of depression requires the presence of 5 or more of the symptoms of depression, and they must persist for 2 weeks or longer. It also must include a sad/depressed mood, and lack of interest in usual activities.
One of the main differences to my eye is that unhappiness tends to be more logical. You're unhappy because you hate your job, or because your best friend's just died. Whereas although depression might have its roots in something tangible, it can grow beyond that and exist even when to all intents and purposes your life's great. 
Building on that, I'd say unhappiness is usually more cureable than depression, because most life changes are either reversible or can be counterbalanced by something positive, whereas depression is a much trickier beast to deal with.
Building on that, I'd say unhappiness is usually more cureable than depression, because most life changes are either reversible or can be counterbalanced by something positive, whereas depression is a much trickier beast to deal with.
I think it's a very interesting questions and I don't think you can really have a black and white answer to be honest.
People can get diagnosed with 'Mild Depression' (which personally seems a contradiction of terms) and others can be told they're not 'clinically depressed' but are severely unhappy. So there's a grey area. I don't think diagnosing depression is an exact science - it's not like seeing a broken bone on an x-ray.
I know this won't be a popular thing to say but ultimately, I think the individual alone knows how bad they feel and whether it is ''unhappiness'/''depression'' - regardless of how many boxes they tick or what a doctor who has no idea about your life/what you've been through 'assesses' you as. But that's just my view, I'm sure someone will disagree.
I was diagnosed with 'Mild Depression' when I knew for a fact it was a lot more serious than that. So personally, I wouldn't bother with what someone else tells you about your own mental state. You'll know if it's more than unhappiness, for instance, suicidal thoughts are just 'severe unhappiness' and I would argue with anyone who claims it's mild depression no matter whether they have a medical degree or not.
People can get diagnosed with 'Mild Depression' (which personally seems a contradiction of terms) and others can be told they're not 'clinically depressed' but are severely unhappy. So there's a grey area. I don't think diagnosing depression is an exact science - it's not like seeing a broken bone on an x-ray.
I know this won't be a popular thing to say but ultimately, I think the individual alone knows how bad they feel and whether it is ''unhappiness'/''depression'' - regardless of how many boxes they tick or what a doctor who has no idea about your life/what you've been through 'assesses' you as. But that's just my view, I'm sure someone will disagree.
I was diagnosed with 'Mild Depression' when I knew for a fact it was a lot more serious than that. So personally, I wouldn't bother with what someone else tells you about your own mental state. You'll know if it's more than unhappiness, for instance, suicidal thoughts are just 'severe unhappiness' and I would argue with anyone who claims it's mild depression no matter whether they have a medical degree or not.
***You'll know if it's more than unhappiness, for instance, suicidal thoughts are NOT just 'severe unhappiness' and I would argue with anyone who claims it's mild depression no matter whether they have a medical degree or not.
I would say unhappiness occurs more through your current circumstance and something that might be persistently wrong with it. As someone said, it could be because of not being satisfied in a specific job or relationship.
Depression, on the other hand, has a much more widespread effect, as it can stop you from enjoying things you normally enjoy and make you lose interest in things you've been doing for a long time. This definitely hit me in my last year of my undergraduate degree and I ended up doing things like going to social occasions just to satisfy other people and then leaving before the end without anyone noticing, and not being very good at managing my time and work (much to the annoyance of my MMath dissertation supervisor, who mistook depression for unhappiness and didn't really understand it).
One thing I think needs to change is people's general understanding of depression and that it isn't just a matter of being "a bit sad". My parents have sometimes dismissed my depression as being "under the weather" and things like that, either because they don't fully understand depression or just because it makes their lives easier by assuming that.
Depression, on the other hand, has a much more widespread effect, as it can stop you from enjoying things you normally enjoy and make you lose interest in things you've been doing for a long time. This definitely hit me in my last year of my undergraduate degree and I ended up doing things like going to social occasions just to satisfy other people and then leaving before the end without anyone noticing, and not being very good at managing my time and work (much to the annoyance of my MMath dissertation supervisor, who mistook depression for unhappiness and didn't really understand it).
One thing I think needs to change is people's general understanding of depression and that it isn't just a matter of being "a bit sad". My parents have sometimes dismissed my depression as being "under the weather" and things like that, either because they don't fully understand depression or just because it makes their lives easier by assuming that.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by superwolf
One of the main differences to my eye is that unhappiness tends to be more logical. You're unhappy because you hate your job, or because your best friend's just died. Whereas although depression might have its roots in something tangible, it can grow beyond that and exist even when to all intents and purposes your life's great.
Building on that, I'd say unhappiness is usually more cureable than depression, because most life changes are either reversible or can be counterbalanced by something positive, whereas depression is a much trickier beast to deal with.
Building on that, I'd say unhappiness is usually more cureable than depression, because most life changes are either reversible or can be counterbalanced by something positive, whereas depression is a much trickier beast to deal with.
PROSM this is spot on. I have suffered with depression on/off since my teens (I'm 30 now). Although many of my episodes of depression have been triggered off by something bad happening in my life there has been a few times things in my life have been completely fine yet I feel depressed.
Unhappiness strikes me to describe a more short term feeling and a mood, provoked by an event or dissatisfaction with something. Depression is more of a long term condition that goes beyond unhappiness, like a constant low energy, where something in the brain feels like it's been switched off. But I think people use the term 'I feel depressed' quite liberally these days so I guess the distinction isn't very clear.
(edited 9 years ago)
In my experience, depression isn't about feeling unhappy. When I had depression, the main feeling was of numb, emptiness and this persisted no matter what I did.
