Sadness is a normal human emotion. We?ve all experienced it and we all will?again. Sadness is usually triggered by a difficult, hurtful, challenging, or disappointing event, experience, or?situation. In other words, we tend to feel sad about something. This also means that when that something changes, when our emotional hurt fades, when we?ve adjusted or gotten over the loss or disappointment, our sadness remits.

Depression is an abnormal emotional state, a mental illness that affects our thinking, emotions, perceptions, and behaviours in pervasive and chronic ways. When we?re depressed we feel sad about everything. Depression does not necessarily require a difficult event or situation, a loss, or a change of circumstance as a trigger. In fact, it often occurs in the absence of any such triggers. People?s lives on paper might be totally fine?they would even admit this is true?and yet they still feel horrible.

Depression colours all aspects of our lives, making everything less enjoyable, less interesting, less important, less loveable, and less worthwhile. Depression saps our energy, motivation, and ability to experience joy, pleasure, excitement, anticipation, satisfaction, connection, and meaning. All your thresholds tend to be lower. You?re more impatient, quicker to anger and get frustrated, quicker to break down, and it takes you longer to bounce back from everything.

In either case talking to a professional counsellor can help you process your pain, gain clarity and receive the support you may need to pick yourself up again.