whats the difference between depressed and unhappy?

[kitten_uk2]

basicaly whats the difference between being unhappy and being depressed, and can anyone describe being either of these?

[carjack]

Being unhappy doesn't necessarily affect every aspect of your life or stop you enjoying the parts that are good.
You may feel a bit P***** off if your boyfriend dumps you but it doesn't automatically follow you would become depressed. You can be unhappy about a certain part of your life or about your looks/money/situation but you can still laugh and be happy at other times when the upset is lessened. It doesn't usually have long term affects on health, appetite and sleep patterns, at least not when the problem has gone or been dealt with.

However with depression, speaking personally from experience, you wake with a feeling of dread and feel flat, low and desperately unhappy all through the day. You don't want to eat, get dressed, leave the house or on really bad days, live. Your sleep patterns are affected, you may get headaches. I also suffered from days of laying in bed sobbing uncontrollably. It is very difficult to see any hope or light at the end of the tunnel. It is a very frightening, dark and lonely place to be. You may have feelings of self loathing and tend to brood over things, blowing them out of all prortion. It is a very self obsessed illness as you are completely consumed in your own dark cloud and others may find it hard to understand or sympathise.

Is that any help?

[TillyNilly]

carjack...you explained it so well...
In my experience depression is like being in a dark hole...
Void of any feelings...emotions.. future...and unable to function and perform normal day to day activities.

[TillyNilly]

...............And very different to feeling inhappy.......

[mycats]

Depression is a terrible thing, I was diagnosed as clinically depressed at 15. If something bad happens in your life and it upsets you, thats normal, but if you want to curl up under the covers and sob when nothing specific has happened thats probably depression. It can come and go, mine follows a cycle, good, ok bad, awful, slightly better, good etc

[lainiej]

Hi all. The way carjack has described depression is exactly how mine affects me. I dont want to get dressed, washed, brush my teeth - I dont want to be at home but I dont want to go out. At one stage the only place I felt 'safe' was in the garden - neither in nor out. Its a horrible frightening illness and only those who suffer from it can understand it. It took my family a long time to appreciate how I was feeling and that I couldnt just 'snap out of it'.
I'm now in what my doc called 'maintenance' period where I'm taking 2 prozac a day for quite a while. If I miss a day's medication it takes about 5 days to get back to normal. Another thing I experience is terrible paranoia - I'm convinced my hubby is having an affair tho there's no evidence.
I wouldnt wish depression on anyone but at the same time its good to know that others feel the same way. Elaine x x

[TillyNilly]

.Hi...........mycats.....lainiej........carjack....
Feeling depressed is a nasty place to be.....very isolating....and lonely.....I found the Seroxat tabs helped and got me on an even keel...Took me a year to feel 'right' again... I never want to feel like that again...Folk who haven't experienced it have no idea have they?...Keep well..xxx