The word "depression" has become so commonly used, and it's used insensitively every single day. Not many things bother me more than when I hear people say that they're "depressed" because they failed a test or because their boyfriend broke up with them. Being sad or upset over those situations is totally normal. In fact, it is such a normal reaction to be sad over those types of situations that I'd be concerned if someone wasn't sad or upset about it.
It blows my mind when I hear a friend say "Ugh, he doesn't like me, I'm so depressed." Like no, you're not. You're disappointed. Bummed. Upset. Sad. Maybe even mad. But you are not depressed because of a completely normal and common situation.
Being depressed means you might not have a single thing, in particular, to be sad about, yet you're sad anyways. And you're usually sad a majority of the time. There's no particular reason for it, you just feel like an empty, blank, hollow body.
You feel sad, and at the same time, you feel nothing.
For many, depression comes with random mental breakdowns, increased anxiety, fatigue, and exhaustion. Constant exhaustion. Some people just don't care about anything anymore. And that's not to say that people with depression are selfish and insensitive to the people and things around them, it means that they have lost the will to do things they used to love, and getting out of bed is twice as hard, and they're suddenly never available to hang out with the friends that they used to spend every day with. But it's nothing personal at all. In fact, it has nothing to do with the people around them and everything to do with the feelings they have inside themselves of being lost and losing the drive they once had to do things.
Feeling like there's nothing inside of you, feeling like you might explode or scream or burst out into tears and lose your mind at any moment, not wanting to get out of bed for anything at all — these are things that can come with being clinically depressed. Isolating yourself, losing care for things you used to love, and feeling like there is something missing, but not knowing what. That is what it feels like to be depressed.
You aren't depressed just because you and your best friend got into a big fight, or your boyfriend dumped you, or because you didn't get into the college you wanted to go to. Don't get me wrong, all of these things can contribute to worsening depression for those who have it, and are valid reasons for any person to be sad, upset, and disappointed. By no means am I saying all of this to tell people who aren't depressed that they can't be sad, because that is absolutely not the case.
The reason I am discussing this is to address the fact that depression is not a synonym for being sad.
Depression and sadness are not the same thing.
Sadness is a feeling that those with depression often feel, but being sad does not mean you are depressed, and I feel that this is a very important thing to distinguish before we add the word "depression" to the list of terms that society has desensitized and made impossible to use for the meaning it was intended for.
Being sad is a normal and healthy emotion we deal with as people, and coping with this sadness the right way is extremely important. However, using the word "depression" as if it is a synonym for the words "sad" or "upset" is degrading and undermines the true meaning of what depression really is for those who genuinely suffer from it.
If you think you have symptoms of depression, talk to a trusted parent, friend, or adult who can help you decide how to go about handling them. But for the sake of those with depression, please have respect for those who suffer and don't mitigate the true meaning of this word. Please use this word sparingly before it becomes impossible to decipher those with true depression from those who are merely using the word "depression" as a synonym for "sad."
