Feeling sad a lot without having depression

Yeah there are different degrees of depression, sometimes it's so mild that you don't even notice or it's so debilitating that you can hardly function. If I do have any form of depression, it's probably situational since it takes something happening for me to become extremely sad for over two weeks without letting up. Other than that, there's just a low level of lingering sadness that will stick around for a few days and disappear for a day or two and then return. It's extremely mild in comparison and never lasts two weeks so that's why I'm unsure if it's depression, glad you have recovered and recognize that you could relapse.

admitting here I didnt read the whole thread. a post in this thread caught my eye as I was reading.

Rdgrad15 said they did not think they had depression because the problems didnt last for 2 weeks required by the dsm5.

the world is now on DSM 5 TR.. that means many of the disorders have been changed. for depression you dont need to have the symptoms for 2 weeks straight through. the wording is that you have to have 5 of 9 criteria present during the same 2 week period and represent a change from previous function. at least one of the symptoms is either depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure. The very first criteria has the wording "nearly every day" (thats not the whole criteria just putting the important point of the first criteria)

which means out of 14 days how many days have you felt sad/ empty and hopeless for the whole day that interferes with your daily functioning

one day yea a person doesnt meet that first criteria. but someone who has more whole days during a two week time period of feeling sad, empty and hopeless meets that criteria.

to be clear though. in order to meet the diagnostics for major depressive disorder you have to meet at least 5 of the first set of criteria.

Also in the new DSM 5 TR there are many depressive disorders and many of other disorders now carry depression as a "specifier" or symptom.

the only way to know for sure what kind of depression or disorder you have is by going to a treatment provider. dont try to self diagnose. you may end up self diagnosing with the wrong thing or not diagnosing a problem you may have. contact a treatment provider.

you can also find the new DSM 5 TR in libraries (most aloow you to read and print off from reference books but dont let you check the book out to take home). you can also purchase one the American Psychiatric Associations website, and Amazon. (not a sales pitch. some now aware that the new DSM 5 TR is out may want to know how to find it)

I'm glad you cleared that up, I didn't know they updated the DSM-5 again since I thought they already did that years ago. Guess things are always changing though, it makes more sense that you must meet several criteria within the same time span in order for a disorder to be diagnosed. Also I know not to self diagnose myself, I don't lose sleep over it and just simply look at the criteria out of general curiosity and just some ideas but talking to an actual professional is the actual way to go. I knew people in the past that would spend hours and literally lose sleep over looking up various disorders they could possibly have, that was just unhealthy and I wouldn't go down that road since you can get yourself all worked up over nothing and that can go for physical illnesses too.

It possible. I feel like this all the time but then again I have depression.

Yeah it's always possible.

I get feeling that way sympathetically.


Happens. Lately, I was feeling a F,S thing for the weekend. My wife is tapping in to the same kind of thing and I deeply worry for her

Yeah I think it's becoming more common.

What is F,S?

I stumbled upon your post, found it such interesting topic to dive in.
Many ppl confuse between having depression and being sad.
Before I explain the difference between both of them, I let you know that they are both linked, somehow feeling sad is a symptom of having depression.
Well, let's talk about the difference,
Sadness is an emotion that everyone can experience due to such a bad event, unexpected happening such as death or disappearing of loved ones, loss at work, at home, generally related with materials...
Whereas depression is a mental health disorder that have a negative big role in destroying your life, and it has a lot of serious symptoms
Anxiety, anger, lack of energy, sleeping disorder, losing appetite, feeling sad, unworthy...the worst of them is having thoughts bout death and suicide!!!
As u can see, nothing from the symptoms above are found in your post,
And what you are experiencing is natural and can happen with everybody,
So don't worry,
Dale carnegie the writer he published the greatest book of all times in 1948 in UK, the most sold one, the title of book : how to stop worrying and start living, after that he committed suicide.
Your post is very meaningful, I prefer to be sad alone than being surrounded by bunch of freaks, I tell u sorry for your Sadness, and enjoy your Sadness,
Coz what am
going to say could sound absurd and strange a little bit,
The depressed in my view is not a sick person, nor an introverted person surrounded by mystery, and isolated socially..behaving awkwardly...In my view the depressed person is wonderful, is a person who saw reality and the world without mask, and was unable to deal with that ugliness!!!

From my understanding, it stands for For Sadness which I'm guessing is a different name for situational depression but the name For Sadness could be a mistake since it doesn't really make sense.

Yeah I agree, people get sadness and depression mixed up and both words are used interchangeably. I'll hear people they feel a bit depressed on a certain day even though they're aren't actually depressed, they're just sad. Yeah I know I don't have true clinical depression, probably situational at most but again everyone goes through those moments with varying degrees of symptoms. Also I agree that depressed people do tend to see things for how they are more realistically and I've seen it happen to where someone who is depressed actually turns out to be right more often, that's depressive realism but I know you don't have to have depression to see things for what they are since I don't have constant depression and I still see myself as a realist and seeing things for how they are.

@rdgrad15 have you ever tried support groups? I find them more helpful than therapy. And it doesn't really matter whether your depression is situational or clinical. You can still benefit from them.

May have to give that a shot, I can see how a support group could be more helpful than therapy.

I have links to virtual groups that I can share if you like.

Oh okay sure.

I use this site quite a bit: Hey Peers - Where Peers and Support Groups Connect

Then, because you are in Pennsylvania, there is NAMI Pennsylvania: Home - NAMI Keystone Pennsylvania

I am a support group facilitator for NAMI in Houston.

Oh okay thank you.

You're welcome. I hope you find one that helps.

Yeah definitely.