Depression and unhappiness is NOT the same thing!
In today’s society, depression has become a buzz word that people take to describe a feeling of unhappiness or discontentment. Many times it’s used because there’s no other way to explain what you are feeling.
Depression is a clinical illness usually followed by thoughts of suicide or a desire to “disappear”. It is an independent sadness that continues for a duration of time and nothing seems to help it subside. Most individual isolate themselves and detach from things and people. Depression is an unbalance of emotions and is a philosophical mental disorder.
Unhappiness, often misinterpreted as depression, is a state of mind. It usually comes and goes as your activity changes. Your unhappiness can be altered by an activity where depression cannot.
I share these differences from personal experience not as a mental health expert! I’ve battled with depression and have had a lot of unhappy days. Knowing the difference was a game changer.
I do not minimize either but I do put emphasis on knowing the difference. When your symptoms of sadness last longer than a few days, you cannot pinpoint the cause, you no longer want to be around people or your desire to live ceases, it’s time to seek clinical help. No questions asked.
However if you are dealing with feeling of sadness because you are lonely or bored, it’s time to change your environment. You are not a tree you are not required to remain in a space that no longer inspire or motivate you.
Survivors of trauma, especially, tend to ride the rollercoaster of unhappiness because it has become their norm. They have lived with emotional dysfunction for so long it becomes engraved into their thoughts and way of living.
If you’ve experienced trauma, and most of us have, sadness or unhappiness has occurred. If you’ve lived a life of chronic trauma: domestic abuse, sexual assault, multiple deaths, PTSD, etc., you’re probably living in survival mode and don’t realize it. Survival has become your norm and depression can easily set in.
But you have to do the work, acknowledge where you are, seek help and identify the root cause of your sadness. Maybe it’s a person, maybe it’s a thing or environment but you must be willing to let it go. You cannot not heal in the same place that hurt you.
I’ll be the first to admit; the worst pain you will ever experience is a pain you can’t explain. But you have to find the words. You have to dig inside, be honest with yourself and do the work. Be selfish enough to fight for yourself and your peace of mind. Survivors are accustomed to putting everyone else first. Well your happiness has to come first. You are NO good to anyone when you are unable to function at 100. Stop giving pieces of you. Stop accepting pieces of happiness. You deserve all of it.
Are you depressed or are you unhappy? Is it clinical or is it situational? Do you mood change around certain people? Are you able to alter your emotions by changing your environment?
If you are depressed nothing changes your mood. When you are sad or unhappy, environmental changes affects your mood. So the next time you are feeling sad, be honest with yourself. What are you feeling? Did something provoke those feelings? Address the issue instead of sitting in a space of acceptance. You do not have to accept sadness as a part of life. You are the CEO of your life; terminate (get rid) of what’s no longer serving as a source of happiness in your life.
Until next time
