Sadness & Depression


AS DIFFERENT AS NIGHT AND DARK
Everyone has experienced sadness and unhappiness. These may result
from (1) the loss or absence of a valued person, object, or situation, or (2)
troublesome thinking, behavior, and interaction patterns. Depression is a
disturbance in the flow of neural information due to changes in brain
chemistry. The body’s ability to feel, think, move and even digest is literally
depressed! An estimated 15% to 25% of the population will experience
depression at some time in their lives. Thoughts of defeat, deprivation, and
self-devaluation that accompany depression suggest it is a “mental
problem.” Even these may result from brain chemistry rather than life
experiences.

GLOOMY CHEMICAL GREMLINS

Depressed people have low levels of norepinephrine and serotonin. These
chemical messengers enable us to respond to and transmit incoming neural
information. When serotonin is lacking, everything in the body slows down.
Studies have shown that the brains of people who commit suicide have
fewer “binding sites” that permit proper distribution of serotonin. There are
several ways to disturb the delicate chemical balance needed for mood
stability:

• Heredity can affect the body’s ability to produce and use serotonin.
  Genes are particularly suspect when depressed people have a close
  relative with a mood disorder.

• Illnesses such as anemia, cancer, chronic pain, and immune
  deficiencies can physically influence mood. Thyroid problems are
  present in 10% to 15% of depressed people.

• Some medications for high blood pressure, heart problems,
  Parkinson’s disease, hormone replacement, and birth control can
  trigger depression.

• Hormone levels of estrogen, progesterone, and melatonin change
  dramatically monthly or seasonally and may be major players in the
  chemistry of depression. Both serotonin and melatonin are found to
  be lower in some women suffering from PMS.

• Abuse of alcohol and drugs may ultimately lead to depression even
  though they are initially mood enhancing. Studies show that women
  and children are often depressed before they begin abusing alcohol
  or drugs.

• Traumatic experiences early in life may actually alter body chemistry.
  People who have lost a parent in childhood are twice as likely to have
  major depression as adults.

• Prolonged stress can wear down the body’s reserves and lead to
  depression. People also acquire beliefs during trauma and high
  stress that influence moods. About 25% of depressed compared to
  5% of nondepressed people are experiencing serious stress.

Experiments with mice show that a combination of factors is the most likely
cause of depression. Some strains of mice exposed to inescapable electric
shocks develop “depressed” eating, sleeping, mating, and learning habits.
They continue to deteriorate even after shocks are stopped. Other strains
of mice bounce back to normal when they are no longer subject to shocks.
This may suggest that even prolonged stress will not result in depression
unless people are genetically predisposed.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BLUE AND BLAH

Sadness can be caused by any change in familiar patterns of behavior that
is experienced as loss: death, divorce, moving, retirement, graduation, and
illness. Grief is far different from the

inability to experience pleasure that accompanies depression. It may be
barely noticeable with minor disappointments or an outpouring of feelings
during major loss. When sadness is mistaken for depression, feelings can
be compounded and frightening. When depression is mistaken for sadness,
people may not receive proper medical attention. Therefore, it is important
to make the distinction:

• Sadness is an e-motion, or energy-in-motion. Focusing on sad
  feelings, allowing them to build, and releasing them through crying
  and/or talking leads to a healing outlook. Avoiding painful feelings
  suppresses them and can eventually lead to depression. When
  properly weathered, daylight follows these “dark nights of the soul.”

• Depression is a motionless, vacant state. Struggling to release
  feelings that aren’t there can be exhausting and add to the problem.
  An energizing distraction or medication may be needed to banish the
  darkness.

Reference

See You Mean I Don’t Have to Feel This Way by Colette Dowling (Bantam
Books, 1993), p. 37, 41, 92.Depression versus Sadness Checklist


DIRECTIONS: Mark items that best describe your experience. Although
sadness and depression can be mixed, the more pronounced condition
needs to be addressed first.

Depression Indicators                            Grief Reactions