Is depression and unhappiness the same and if not how do you differentiate between them?

Question

Can you be unhappy and not be depressed or will you become depressed if you are unhappy.? Conversly if you are happy can you be depressed ? If you are both unhappy and depressed which comes first, and which do you treat, the depression or the situation that is making you unhappy.?

Answer 1

Being happy or unhappy is an emotional response and usually doesn't last very long. If a situation is making you unhappy often being away from it is all that is needed to make you feel better. You may feel unhappy at school or work yet know that there is something to look forward to once you get home. A depressed person will feel there is nothing at all to look forward to and that everything is wrong and it's not going to get better whatever they do.
A lot of our feelings come from hormones released by the brain and depressed people for some reason don't produce the right amount of feel good ones. Feeling unhappy can trigger this though often there is no obvious cause. Once the brain slows the release of chemicals we start to feel bad and if it isn't treated or the situation making us unhappy goes unresolved it slows even more. A Doctor will start treating the imbalance by replacing the missing hormone, it's up to us to treat or resolve the situation. He /she will perhaps advise you or refer you to a councillor or psychiatrist if it's needed but it's only us who can alter the situation or move on from it in some way.

Answer 2

Yes, there is a HUGE difference. Unfortunately, in our society today depression is greatly overused. You can be unhappy and not depressed, but you cannot be depressed and happy.

Typically, unhappiness comes first. For example, say your dog dies (mine did last month). When you are sad you are grieving. When you are unable to get over the grieving, you are depressed.

Depression is a psychological disorder in which unhappiness/sadness pervades your life and interferes with your ability to function in your typical fashion. If you are unhappy, do something fun to feel better, or just allow time (usually a couple of days or weeks) to process your feelings. If you are depressed get professional help.

As far as what to treat, if you can control the situation (like get a new job) then you should do that. Unfortunately, depression is usually related to something you can't control.

Answer 3

They're two different things.

I take antidepressants, and have done every day since I was 25, for a serotonin imbalance.

However, I am as happy as Larry most of the time. Occasionally I have days where things go wrong, and that makes me UNhappy but not depressed.

I think if someone is consistently unhappy because of the way their life is, then they are more likely to become depressed.

I believe that you would need to treat the symptoms in order to change the situation, but I know that some believe in changing the situation to alleviate the symptoms.

Different psychologists believe different things.

Answer 4

bieng depressed and unhappy r 2 totally diffrent things, u can be unhappy about a meal u got at a resteraunt but it wont cause severe depression will it? i know the diffrence because i have depression and for a while i had it totally under control and i could deal with it so i started to become relitivly happy and then something happened in my life that braught the depression back with a bang and now im having to see the doctor again regularly to get anti depressents and possibly get councelling

Answer 5

I can only tell you about my depression, I was doing an extremely stressful job, over a period of time, and started getting very forgetful! Where I was going, names,.concentration levels Nil.

I was told I was suffering with depression, but I was not UNHAPPY - I comfort ate quite a bit, but I could laugh and go out with friends ... So I am not sure, it must effect people differently?

I understand that sadness and depression are two separate things, sadness is due to outside happenings situations etc.,
Where as depression tends to be more internal, a physical/mental struggle, sometimes due to some sort of chemical imbalance.

Answer 6

Depression can be circumstancial (caused by unhappiness in life) or it can just be a chemical inbalance. If there is something in ones life that is causing unhappiness, it is sensible to tackle that first, but seeking medical help for depression is a wise idea. Unhappiness and depression are different things, as there is a difference between headaches and migrane - and once you've suffered from both, you'll be able to tell them apart. You can be content with your lot in life and still suffer from depression - sometimes, on paper, someones life looks fine, but they suffer from depression still. It is possible to feel unhappy and never develop depression - it afffects all of us differently. Depression causes other problems such as insomnia, loss of appetite, anxiety, feelings of worthlessness and suicidal thoughts.

Answer 7

Unhappiness and depression are two completely different things, unhappiness has a reason which is obvious to you but with depression it is a clinical thing that most people do not even realise they have. If you visit the following site it might be useful to you:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serotonin.

Answer 8

It is really hard to tell the difference really. But being always unhappy can lead to depression. Which is an illness rather than a mood.

Answer 9

Unhappiness is caused by something that might have happened to cause you to be unhappy. Depression goes a little deeper than that. Basically your just down in the dumps for no apparent reason.

Answer 10

You can be unhappy, and still be okay. Being depressed is a medical condition. When your depressed you can't help it. You may not even know why you feel the way you feel. When you feel your life has no meaning, or nothing you do helps to make it better than your depressed.