Depressed vs Stressed - Do you know how to tell the difference?
From time to time most of us will experience different levels of stress due to factors such as work, school, relationships, finances etc.
We may also experience some days where we feel down and sad. Sadness is an emotion which we all experience from time to time, attributed by a specific situation and still able to do things we enjoy. If you are feeling sad and hopeless, not related to any particular situation and unable to enjoy things you normally would, this is associated with depression.
Whilst stress and depression share commonalities of feeling exhausted or fatigued, how do we actually differentiate stress and depression?
Stress can be described as feelings of overwhelm due to situations where we feel under pressure and where the pressure and demands are beyond our capacity to cope, often feeling that you have little control over. Although stress can help us to function and be productive at times, long term stress can leave you feeling nervous or frustrated or even angry and can lead to feeling exhausted.
Depression on the other hand is a mood disorder, and individuals can experience both physiological and psychological symptoms that impact on a person’s day to day functioning and will not go away like it would with stress when the situation has been managed or dealt with.
The common symptoms of depression are outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, Firth Addition (DSM-5) below:
1. Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day.
2. Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day.
3. Significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain or decrease or increase in appetite every day.
4. Slowing down of thought and reduction of physical movement (observed by others, not merely subjective feelings of restlessness or being slowed down).
5. Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day.
6. Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt nearly every day.
7. Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day.
8. Recurrent thoughts of death, recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or suicide attempt or specific plan for committing suicide.
In order to receive a diagnosis for major depressive disorder, the symptoms must cause significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other areas of functioning and not related to physiological effects of a substance or another medical condition.
Another criteria for major depressive disorder is that five or more symptoms must be experienced for at least a 2 week period, with either of the symptoms being depressed mood or loss of interest of pleasure.
Both stress and depression can both have long term effects on how we manage our day to day. Whether you feel or are feeling overwhelmed, hopeless or depressed, it is important to seek help and support from professionals such as your GP, a counsellor or psychologist to help you manage symptoms and to learn helpful coping strategies.