Sadness and hopelessness often occur after someone dies. This feeling is often called in everyday life as ‘depression’.
Sometimes a grieving person may wonder if their feelings have changed from what they consider to be ‘normal’ sadness, and are signs that they may be experiencing depression.
Depression, also known as major depressive disorder, is a mood disorder that makes you feel constantly sad or less interested in life.
People sometimes feel sad or depressed. This is a normal reaction to loss or life challenges. But when deep sadness — including feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and worthlessness — persists for days to weeks and prevents you from living your life, it may be more than just sadness. You may be suffering from clinical depression, a medical condition that must be treated.
In fact there is no cure for depression. Your symptoms may disappear over time, but the condition does not.
However, with treatment and medication, you can achieve remission and enjoy a healthy life.
Causes of Depression
Experts have not yet pinpointed a definite cause of depression. They say it may be a combination of things, including:
- Brain structure.
People with depression appear to have physical differences in their brains from people who are not depressed.
- Brain chemistry.
Chemistry in your brain called neurotransmitters plays a role in your mood. When you experience depression, it may be caused by chemicals not working properly.
- Hormones.
Your hormone levels change because of pregnancy, postpartum problems, thyroid problems, menopause, or other reasons. It can trigger depressive symptoms.
- Genetics.
Experts haven’t found a gene that might be responsible for depression, but you’re more likely to have depression if someone close to you has it.
What is the Difference Between Sadness and Depression?
It’s important to remember that these terms are just labels. There’s no easy way to fit complex human feelings into neat categories. Grief can be an overwhelming experience and affects every aspect of a person’s life, including mental and physical health.
Clinical depression is the term when deep sadness persists for weeks or months. These feelings also appear after someone dies, and of course there is a possibility that you may experience depression while you are grieving, and vice versa.
When is it Time to Ask for Help?
You go through a wide range of feelings and physical experiences after someone dies. Usually these feelings change over time and gradually become more manageable. If your feelings don’t change and you start to feel stuck, it’s a good idea to seek support. If you notice that this is affecting a large part of your life — for example you can’t go to work or can’t get out of bed — it might be time to seek help.
Grief and depression are different experiences, but both have extreme symptoms of grief and can affect a person mentally and physically. A grieving person may feel that their grief is depression, but depression can occur without an external catalyst.
Research has shown that sadness, or social loss, can lead to major depressive disorder and other physiological conditions associated with depression. Theories suggest that the neurological pathways of grief can cause neurotransmitters to shut down the brain’s reward system, resulting in depression.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 6 adults will experience depression at some point in their lives, with various possible causes such as environmental, situational, genetic, biological, or psychological.
Grief due to the loss of someone or something close to someone, can result in symptoms such as deep sadness, or depression. Complicated grief (CG) or prolonged grief disorder can occur if the feelings do not fade over time.
It’s important to remember that sadness and depression are complex feelings for every person, and do not need to be clearly labeled.
