Know the Signs of Sadness

The million-dollar question is: Are you depressed or just sad? Everyone experiences sadness, bad days, and blue moods from time to time. Feeling sad is not the same thing as being depressed. So the first order of business is to define what normal sadness is and how it is distinct from depression.

What exactly is sadness? Sadness can be defined as mental anguish or suffering in the absence of any physical pain, such as experiencing the death of a loved one or empathizing with a loved one who is ill. A mother watching her child suffer, for example, is not in any physical pain, but she still suffers and experiences sadness. When we are sad, our emotions are expressed through crying, talking, or thinking continuously about our sorrow. We may find it difficult to sleep, concentrate and eat. Sadness is characterized by sad feelings – the opposite of the numbness that is the main feature of depression.

The problem for many people in affluent cultures is that often sadness is not triggered by anything obvious. For example, our sadness can develop when we realize our lives or situations are not improving or even declining. Stagnating (being in a rut) or finding your life is getting worse rather than better are conditions that lead to sadness and suffering. As human beings, once our basic needs (safety, food, shelter, love) are looked after, we are driven toward self-actualization. But when our life circumstances stymie self-actualization or spiritual growth, we suffer and feel sad. The longing for material possessions, money, or an intimate relationship is often just an expression of the desire for self-realization. Later in life, many of us also begin to question our attachments to material possessions and power; as we get older, we begin to see the difference between real needs (such as love, friendship and respect) and artificial needs (such as money, power and prestige).

For those of us who like the status quo and our quality of life, sadness and suffering can develop when a life event of some kind threatens that status quo, our sense of our own identity, or our quality of life. The threat can come from an infinite variety of sources, of course, ranging from physical illness to financial hardship.

Understand Types of Depression in Teenagers

There are a couple of different types of depression that a person can experience. Several of these start during the teenage years. The most frequently diagnosed types of depression in teens include:

1. Major Depression

A person suffering from major depression experiences persistent low moods or sadness, or loss of interest or pleasure in most activities over at least two weeks. Not everyone with major depression experiences the same symptoms, but the more severe the depression, the more symptoms are experienced. Major depression has a severe impact on daily life, interfering with work, school or social activities.

People with major depression may feel despair and hopelessness, their energy levels may be extremely low and they might find it hard to motivate themselves to do even the simplest of daily tasks. People with major depression also commonly experience low self-esteem and thoughts of death and suicide. It is important to get immediate help to stay safe when having thoughts about suicide.

Major depression is identified by a combination of symptoms that interfere with the ability to work, study, sleep, eat, and enjoy activities that were once pleasurable (see symptoms of depression). Such a disabling episode of depression may occur only once, but more commonly occurs several times in a lifetime. Major depression can occur for the first time during the teenage years.

In teenagers, an episode of depression lasts on average from seven to nine months and has many signs of depression similar to those in adults. Teenagers with depression can be:

• Sad
• Irritable (which may lead to aggressive behavior)
• Indecisive (which may be accompanied by having problems concentrating)
• Pessimistic, or even hopeless, about the future.

They may also:

• Lose interest in activities that used to please them
• Criticize themselves and feel that others criticize them
• Feel unloved
• Think that life is not worth living (thoughts of suicide may be present)
• Lack energy or motivation
• Neglect their appearance and hygiene.

Major depression is also known as:

• Clinical depression.
• Unipolar depression.
• Major depressive disorder.

2. Dysthymia

Dysthymia is a less severe type of depression that can be long-lasting. It can keep a person from functioning well, feeling good, or experiencing joy. Dysthymia often starts during childhood or adolescence. Someone with dysthymia may experience fatigue, sleeping and eating problems, and be plagued by low self-esteem, guilt and negative thinking. Cognitive difficulties include concentration and memory problems.

With dysthymia, the child or adolescent is depressed for most of the day, on most days, and symptoms continue for several years. The average duration of a dysthymia period in teenagers is about four years.

Sometimes children with dysthymia are depressed for so long that they do not recognize their mood as being out of the ordinary. As a result, they may not complain of feeling depressed. Seventy percent (70%) of children and adolescents with dysthymia eventually experience an episode of major depression. When a combination of major depression and dysthymia occurs, the condition is referred to as double depression.

3. Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is the least common type of depression (also called manic-depressive illness or manic-depression). Bipolar disorder can occur anytime from childhood to old age. A person with bipolar disorder can have moods that swing between extreme highs, where they feel invincible, to paralyzing lows where they feel complete despair.

During the depressed cycle, an individual can have any or all of the symptoms of depression. During the manic cycle, the individual may have a great deal of energy and be overactive and over talkative. Mania often affects thinking, judgment, and social behavior in ways that cause serious problems and embarrassment. For example, the individual in a manic phase may feel elated and full of grand schemes that might range from unwise business decisions to romantic sprees. Mania, left untreated, may worsen to a psychotic state.

This psychiatric illness can be mild, moderate or severe. During the manic phase, the person is optimistic and buoyed by exaggerated feelings of wellbeing. Their mind is overactive and they need very little sleep but, while they have plenty of energy, they lack concentration. Work and study may suffer.

During the depressive phase, the person feels despairing and may contemplate suicide.

4. Reactive Depression

Reactive depression, also known as adjustment disorder with depressed mood, is the most common form of mood problem in children and adolescents. In children suffering from reactive depression, depressed feelings are short-lived and usually occur in response to some adverse experience, such as a rejection, a slight, a letdown, or a loss.

With reactive depression, a child may feel sad or lethargic and appear preoccupied for periods as short as a few hours or as long as two weeks. However, the child's mood improves with a change in activity or an interesting or pleasant event. These short-lived mood swings in reaction to minor events are not regarded as a form of mental disorder.

5. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)

Depression is more common in the winter months and in the Northern Hemisphere, which suggests to some researchers that brain chemistry is affected by sunlight exposure. This is often called seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Some studies have shown that light hitting the back of the eye (retina) stimulates the brain to make chemicals that lift a person’s mood.

Apart from depression, other characteristics of SAD include eating more and gaining weight, excessive sleeping and withdrawing from others. Usually, a person with SAD comes out of their ‘hibernation’ in the spring.