Depression vs unhappiness?

[4flipsake]

What's the difference? Is depression a medical term to describe severe unhappiness? Previous generations didn't have this diagnosis, but now everyone seems depressed.
I suspect many depressed people know the cause but can't come up with a solution & that vicious circle leads to further despair.
I know some people have a chemical imbalance in their brain which can be remedied with drugs, but do most depressions result from miserable lives?
I'm genuinely curious about this as am feeling 'depressed' and/or unhappy at the moment & don't know the difference.

Hi, that's a good question to ask.

I have both been unhappy and, seperately, depressed.

With depression, ime, it is the total loss of enjoyment in life, rather than being sad about certain things. I do photography, with unhappiness I might be upset that it's raining so I can't get photo's without a lot of faffing around. With depression, I'd just look at the camera and have no emotional reaction to it even though it's my favourite thing in the world.

I've just confused myself.

Depression doesn't have to come from having a miserable life. You could have everything you need in the world and still have depression.

What are you feeling unhappy with atm, can it be rectified? or are you struggling to engage in things you previously had no problem engaging with. If that makes sense.

Interesting question, but I think there is a fundamental difference. My grandfather (mum's dad) committed suicide when my mum was 12, no-one ever knew why, and it was all hushed up, the family never talked about it - my mum, his daughter was told by a girl at school who (kindly) expressed her condolences, her mother (my grandmother) never told her or has referred to it since - I found out by accident loking thru old newspaper archives... My aunt, DM's sister probably still doesn't know. My mum and her sister are in their late 60's.Fast forward to recently when I called my brother in France - don't see him very often, spoke to SIL who said DB has been hopitalised for suicide attempt - third in 10 years... He didn't want our parents or me to know . SIL said doc had quizzed him because they think the conditon he has is genetic, have only ever seen it where there has been family history, but he has told them repeatedly there was no familial connection - because he didn't know..... You can imagine my and SIL's total moment of gobsmackery at that point. So... she immediately saw doc, he is on medication, he is VERY bitter at our mum never telling him...and his family is devastated because they always assumed it was some unhappiness in his life, marriage, job... and it was a chemical/genetic thing that is now, thank god being treated... Needless to say lots of outfall. My DH is angry that my parents didnn;t tell me or DB, and angry at me for not thinking to tell DB..., and we are all wondering about our own DC, and other cousins who need to be told.
Meanwhile, I have had moment of unhappines in my life, but have never had the desire to end it all. DB has on paper had an easier life, but he has...

A question I'm sure a lot of us who now admit to being depressed (or have accepted the diagnosis if you want to look at it from the other perspective) have asked. I'm fairly sure my current depression comes largely from my life situation rather than anything fundamentally wrong with my brain. Hence you might describe it as just unhappiness, but as NaturalNatures says, when I get to the point I'd describe myself as depressed the unhappiness totally ruins my life and makes me irrational - I can't enjoy the things which I normally take great pleasure in.

I very definitely have ups and downs and when I'm on an up (which is thankfully the majority of the time) I find it hard to understand why I have such problems enjoying anything when I'm down, and when I'm down I find it hard to understand how I ever enjoy anything. Strangely though I can still recall and intellectualise the way I think when I'm in the opposite state, it's just understanding the emotions I have a problem with. I should probably also point out that whilst I am mostly not depressed (or on an up) I still have an underlying unhappiness which is maybe how a totally rational person (if there is such a thing?) would feel the whole time in my situation. Though the professionals I've spoken to always seem to diagnose me as depressed when I describe my feelings even when I'm smiling and generally happy - which has quite often been the case when I've seen them.

I suppose what I'm saying here is that depression is a bit more than just unhappiness. It might be triggered by an unhappiness with your life (I'm not sure I have experience of that not being the case), but goes beyond a rational reaction to that. Which does lead me to question how useful the drugs are to me when it's not cause by a fundamental problem with my brain (endorphins from exercise always seem to help me more - the only problem being that when depressed I have no motivation to go and generate any).

If there is a genetic aspect to this, I am probably more at risk of depression. My aunt drank herself to death (which was I presume related to mental health issues) and my father committed suicide. I guess I have previously had short lived bouts of mild depression when I didn't have such an obvious reason for it, though it was always very predictable and mostly related to having completed a goal and not set a new one, and until recently doing physical exercise was always sufficient to bring me out of it. Before anybody gets too worried about me, whilst I've thought about suicide from an intellectual perspective as one possible solution (hasn't everybody who's suffered from deep depression - or is it just me?) the idea has never appealed very much - there's always an alternative more attractive solution (not necessarily one I want to take, but the fact it's there is quite sufficient to save me).

Hmm I think I've gone way beyond the original question into self-therapy there - apologies, but I can't be bothered to edit out the irrelevant bits now. Just in case anybody is interested, at the moment I'm busy dragging myself out of a bout of depression, maybe even most of the way there as I don't think I've done much in the way of the sort of self pity I normally do when properly depressed.

DadisSad, I relate very much to what you posted. The options a depressed state of mind go through are what I was trying to explain before. When I don't feel depressed I can reason things out and find solutions based on practical everyday things. When I'm depressed my reason would be how do I not commit suicide this next hour.

I also find exercise useful but do fall down on not being able to do that when the depression is too big.

"I also find exercise useful but do fall down on not being able to do that when the depression is too big."

Yep - exercise is a big part of my life - used to be even more so when I competed at an elite level. It's a double whammy for me - exercise not only helps my mood, not doing exercise actively makes me depressed because I'm not getting my fix. Yet I have exactly the same problem with finding it impossible to go out and do things which when in a normal state I completely enjoy (there are some things I do where I don't even normally have the problem of finding it hard work in the way a lot of normal people do with exercise). I'd suggest that's the sort of thing which is a defining difference between unhappiness and depression. Being able to write about it dispassionately is probably also a sign that I'm not properly depressed right now (oh and there's also the horrible vicious circle that being depressed makes me depressed :( )

thanks for your interesting replies: definite food for thought. Atm just going throught the motions with little interest or enjoyment in anything.
I mostly don't see the point in anything & wake up thinking " another day to get through" which seems pretty unhealthy.
I have 1 major unresolvable issue, but i also suspect it's a part of my makeup/personality to have expectations which leads to disappointments.
I have become much better throughout my life at adopting a positive perspective, but sometimes the bleakness dominates.
As some of you have said I find exercise good & really just keep on going & hope I'll sort myself out.

It sounds like it could be depression but you would need to see your gp as it could also be exhaustion etc.

It won't hurt to go to the gp and just have a chat. There's things that can be done like anti depressants or CBT.

CBT helps to change the way you think and works well with positive thinking.

Go see your gp

sorry olympic name change t'was naturalnatures

daftness you just have to live with

Okay, well for me, depression is a complete inability to function. Can't talk to people, find just walking along the corridor at work unbelievably hard and feel very much like a zombie. Yes, sad, but not unhappy sad, more desperate at feeling like that. Not really situational either, and does tend to occur every few years, for a number of months. Unhappiness for me has a known cause, depression does not.