Is it depression when there is a reason for it?

[IlanaK]

What I mean is, if you are depressed about something specific, is it depression or just a normal reaction to a situation? And if you can't change the situation, how do you get out of the depression?

Does it limit you in what you can do, does it disrupt your life? Normal sadness allows you to carry on but IME depression does not.

What is the situation? It's hard to say you you can get out of it as it depends so much on your circumstances

depends really - H was diagnosed with adjustment disorder leading to depression.

So it was (mainly) something specific that affected his mood, but this led on to clinical depression.

There are two types of depression,'reactive' which is in response to something that has happened in your life, which is what you are describing.

Secondly, one caused by hormonal inbalance, common after giving birth etc.

For me, specific situations can trigger my tendency to depression.

Well, it is not stopping me from doing things as such as life must go one. But I don't want to do anything, am getting tearful a lot, ratty etc.

Depends how long it lasts, Id say. I spent 10 years finding reasons for my depression, and believing every time, that something external was causing it.

reactive depression is the clinical label.

fwiw, I do think that grief is healthy. mourning is healthy. they hurt. they can last a long while. but imo they are not dysfunctional.

unfortunately, given the society we live in, there is neither the time nor space given to appropriate grief and mourning.

and in answer to your last question: if you allow yourself to mourn and grieve, to feel the pain and sorrow, not to be impatient with it and condemnatory of it, then although the situation will not change, and although that may always cause you pain, YOU will change in relation to it.

Mourning should move through specific phases, though, shouldnt it. Depression stays the same.

I'm not sure it is helpful to worry too much about the labelling thing - is it depression or not. I think it may be more useful to think in terms of psychological distress or emotional distress that causes us to experience symptoms of sadness, loss of interest in life, low mood etc etc.

I think this business of reactive v endogeonous depression is very old hat these days. It used to be taught that these were the 2 types of depression and one came about as a reaction to some life crisis e.g. bereavement, redundancy etc and the other "came from within" - I think most psychiatrists have moved away from this thinking now. They tend to think that certain individuals have a pre-disposition to depression and will become depressed about something where others will be able to "ride it out" so to speak.

I believe that all depression/psychological distress (call it what you will) is the result of life events and can trigger of an anxiety/depression in people who are pre-dispposed to this. There are remedies of course in the form of anti-depressants and counselling. The medication treat the symptoms and counselling with a good counsellor should treat the underlying cause for the depression.

SO OP if something is causing you to have the classic symptoms of depression (have a look on the web sites if you aren't sure) then that is a problem for you and I think you should see your GP and possibly a counsellor to get the help you need. You may not need medication but that is for you and your GP to decide, but I wouldn't worry about what to call your emotional distress if you see what I mean.

Hope things improve for you

Sorry - just seen your post nighbynight - you say that "mourning moves through specific phases" - I would not disagree but this is not a linear process - you can take two steps forward and 1 step backwards and it can be a lengthy process - eventually with understanding and time it is possible to arrive at what is called an "acceptance" of the loss, but I prefer to think of it as something that becomes more manageable and does not overwhelm us.

However you say that "depression stays the same" and I don't agree with this. Depression or emotional distress is a process too and had to be worked through and that too will fluctuate from day to day and sometimes through the day but for the vast majority of people it is a process that has a beginning, a middle and an end. For a very unfortunate few the depression becomes chronic but for most people there is light at the end of the tunnel though of course once having suffered from this distressing complaint, it can recur and it is important for people to understand the underlying causes of their depression, so as to do all they can to prevent relapse.

Nana, I am not a psych, but my depression stayed the same for around 10 years. It didn't move through phases. Though in that time, I went through phases, eg recovering from a failed love affair, the underlying depression remained constant.

I feel I am stuffed then as I have both. Depression due to things experienced as a child and also as a chemical reaction when I had my children. Oh well.

thing is though "reactive" depression can also end up with same imbalance in the brain that chemical (pg related etc) can - so at the end of the day if the "symptoms" of depression are there and on going it's depression no matter what label you put on it.

btw, i should add, that imho good psychotherapy or counselling provides an excellent space through which you can mourn and grieve.

i was not in any way implying that people don't need help with grieving, especially in the society in which we live today.