Depression vs sadness | Sage Meadows Mental Health

Depression can cause isolation; the person often feels lonely and wants to connect with others, but also feels that socialization is draining or feels hollow. Mental health support groups can be a powerful reminder that you are not alone.

Other symptoms of depression can include changes in appetite (either eating too much or too little) and subsequent weight changes. Many people will struggle with their sleep, having insomnia or hypersomnia, which is the medical term for sleeping too much. I have had patients sleep twelves hours a night and then take two long naps during the day, they are essentially spending most of their life in bed. This also frequently translates to fatigue and a loss of energy. It feels as though your sleep is not fully restorative, and you may even find yourself looking forward to going back to bed as soon as you wake up in the morning. Some people with more severe depression will have a loss in the ability to care for themselves physically, including obtaining and preparing food, or caring for basic hygiene. On the extreme end, I have had patients go weeks or even a month or longer without a shower- they simple feel that the effort is too much for them.

Some people with depression will have psychomotor retardation, which is when you actually find yourself moving slower, usually to the point that other people may have noticed. I remember one patient explaining that it took him five minutes to get out of the car when he parked. He felt a sense of being inert, and finding the energy to physically stand up and open the door felt like too much. There is also frequently a difficulty in thinking or concentrating. Again, it feels as though the brain itself is moving slower and has trouble focusing. A person may feel that the world is moving faster than their brain can process it, or that they can’t keep up with all the stimuli. I have had a good number of patients with undiagnosed chronic depression with attributed their concentration and attention difficulties to ADD or ADHD, but when they got treatment for the depression, the concentration improved as well.

Every person’s depression looks a little bit different. If you have several of the above symptoms, especially if one of your symptoms if suicidal thinking, you should consider getting a formal evaluation with a mental health professional. There are guidelines that can be used to make a diagnosis, but this is also up to the experience and judgement of the health care professional as well. If you are feeling depressed, you do not need to suffer alone. There is help available- whether in the form of therapy, support groups, or psychiatric medications. Always remember to put your mental health first, because everything in life starts with your good mental health.

When Does Sadness Become Depression?

How to tell the difference between routine low mood and clinical depression, and when to seek help.

By Erica Chustz, PA-C

All of us have experienced sadness in our lives. This is a natural human emotion and part of being alive. Most of us have probably even said the phrase, “I’m depressed” or that something is “depressing.” But when does sadness truly turn into depression, and when is that depression part of a larger mental health disorder?

Depression is a cluster of various symptoms that can look different from person to person. When people refer to depression, they are typically referring to major depressive disorder, but could also be referring to bipolar depression or the depression associated with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar subtype. Regardless of the larger disorder that the depression is a part of, the features of that episode tend to remain mostly the same.

One of the hallmarks of depression is a feeling of sadness, hopelessness, and low mood. A person may also experience a lack of motivation, feeling that life is more work than usual or that everything feels harder than it should be. Many people with depression want to isolate themselves and be left alone. Classically, a person living with their family might want to spend all their time in their room by themselves, even avoiding family gatherings like meals. Another potential symptom of depression is a lack of self-worth or low self- esteem. This could include feeling like you aren’t a good enough person or that you’re not worthwhile. This can of course on the extreme end lead to suicidal thinking, which is one of the most severe symptoms of depression. I will do another entire video about suicidality because I think it deserves more attention. For our purposes here, suffice it to say that suicidal thinking is almost synonymous with a mental illness. If you are feeling that you don’t want to live any more, or that you are ready to take your own life, chances are much higher that you have a depressive disorder of some sort.

Sept. 3, 2026