How do you know whether it’s depression?

One of the most difficult barriers to understanding depression is the variation in the types of depression and the desire for it to be anything but depression. This is understandable, because depression is a heavy thing. But, sadly, whether we identify what we are experiencing as depression or not does not affect whether it is. I find that by naming a thing, we can often tame it. When it’s depression, by facing what we are experiencing and owning it, some of the power is taken away from it. It doesn’t matter whether your depression is episodic, functional, chronic, biological, situational, recurring, or all of the above. Once you know it is depression, you can begin to do the work to survive it and overcome it. So how do you know if it is depression?

Depression can express itself as listlessness, as lingering, persistent negative thoughts, as an inability to experience joy, as dark reoccurring thoughts, as emotional heaviness, as irritability, and as rage or chronic fatigue. The reason depression expresses itself in so many ways is because of the chemical reactions it creates in the brain. Decreased serotonin and dopamine result in depressive symptoms. I wish that this knowledge was enough to reverse or overcome depression, but it is not. Understanding that this is a chemical reaction is a step in the process. A lot of folx will take this knowledge and attempt to do things that create serotonin and dopamine or that used to give them joy, with little to no effect. This is because your brain is in a place of deficit and not its normal resting levels. Because your brain is in a deficit, what usually would create a positive mood generally does not work. You have to try something new but what that thing should be depends on the type of depression you have.

Episodic depression is a single depressive episode that does not reoccur. Functional depression allows the individual to seem as if everything is ok when inside everything is not. Chronic depression is a depressive mood that has lasted longer than 30 days and/or occurred more than once. Biological depression is marked by there not being any reasons in a person’s situation that would have triggered the depression. Situational depression is caused by life events. Recurring depression is when a person experiences multiple depressive episodes. Each type of depression or combination of depression has its own unique courses of treatment. There are some general activities you can engage in to try and overcome depression. One is to just wait it out. If it is episodic, it could pass in about one to two months. If it is situational, when your situation improves it should pass. If it is chronic, biological, or reoccurring there may be a pattern that you can recognize and then persevere through. If a depressive episode lasts more than 30 days, therapy can often help by providing you with strategies and solutions that haven’t crossed your mind. Therapists can provide an objective perspective that will help you cope with and survive any type of depression you are experiencing. You don’t have to do this alone.

Posted on Monday: 06 February, 2023