Sadness, Grief and Depression - What’s the Difference?

Human beings are a complex species. With our need for social interaction comes a wide array of emotions.

Just like happiness, anger and fear are normal emotions, similarly sadness is also a normal human emotion. These emotions help us communicate with other people, influence our thoughts and actions, and motivate our future behaviors.

And we've all felt sadness in our lives on multiple occassions. Selling your favorite car, ending a videogame that you liked, detachment from a loved one, failing an exam or suffering a financial loss. Such incidences can leave us sad and sometimes grieving. But how is this sadness or grief different from depression? Well a let's take a look..

Sadness and Grief are normal human emotions. Depression is a mental health condition.

Sadness:

Sadness is a feeling that comes and goes and is usually caused by something specific. For example, if you lose a toy or a friend moves away, you might feel sad. Sadness can also be a desirable and necessary emotion. It allows us to deal with painful experiences and loss. It can be cathartic and relieve tension.

Sadness is also one feature of depression, but they are not exactly the same.

Feeling sad is a normal and healthy emotion and will eventually pass; depression effects your life in a negative manner and needs to be dealt with to get you back to leading a happy, healthy, functional life again. If your sadness lasts for a longer time, say more than two weeks and is accompanied by difficulties in daily life, it may mean it’s more than just sadness.

Key differences between Sadness and Grief

Grief:

Grief is a natural response to loss, such as the death of a loved one, and it can last for a long time. It is a normal process that helps people come to terms with their loss and move on with their lives.

If you lose an object that you hold dearly or a person that you are emotionally attached to, it’s normal for you to be stricken with grief for a long time—much longer than the two-week criterion for depression.

And chances are, you won’t find too many things exciting or interesting or pleasurable, depending on how you grieve and what stage you’re in. Many people can and should seek help from a therapist or a counsellor in a time of loss—it’s a way to help you sort out how you’re feeling and learn to cope with the loss in a healthy manner. If this grief period goes on for more than 6 months after the loss, or if the intensity of the grief is more severe than what would be culturally expected, then grief can turn into prolonged grief disorder. More details on that in the next article.

Depression:

Depression is a mental health problem that can make you feel sad for a long time. It can be caused by many things, like problems at home or school, or changes in your brain. Depression is different from sadness because it doesn’t go away on its own. It can make it hard to do things you normally enjoy, like playing with friends or watching TV. Depression can also make you feel tired, angry, or hopeless. It is a persistent feeling of sadness that lasts for more than two weeks and can interfere with a person’s daily life. Depression can be caused by a variety of factors, including genetics, brain chemistry, and life events.

It is important to note that depression is not the same as feeling sad or down, and it is not something that a person can just “snap out of.”

Depressive disorder is a group of mental health problems that are similar to depression. They can make you feel sad, hopeless, or uninterested in things you used to enjoy. There are different types of depressive disorders, like major depressive disorder and seasonal affective disorder. These problems can be caused by many things, like changes in your brain or things that happen in your life.

Sadness and Grief can turn into depression and related mood disorders if we don't find healthy coping mechanisms

Conclusion

Remember, it’s okay to feel sad sometimes, but if you’re feeling sad for a long time, it’s important to get help.

As we have learned, sadness and grief are normal human emotions which are absolutely healthy within certain limits. However, if these persist or if we are incapable of dealing with them in a healthy manner then these normal emotions can escalate to mental health problems.

It’s important to talk to someone if you’re grieving, or feeling sad or depressed. You can talk to a parent, teacher, or counselor. They can help you feel better and get the help you need. Remember, it’s okay to feel sad sometimes, but if you’re feeling sad for a long time, it’s important to get help.