4 ms·
For clarification, what is the distinction between the household usage and real meaning of "depressed"?
by Chinjut 11y ago
For clarification, what is the distinction between the household usage and real meaning of "depressed"?
- arebop 11y agoI think the two key elements that are often missing when people use the term casually are anhedonia and persistence. The wikipedia article has details about the accepted clinical definition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_depressive_disorder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_depressive_disorder
- PebblesHD 11y agotl;dr people who say 'oh I've been a bit depressed lately' after having a bad week may or may not be suffering from the mental illness known as depression, which is characterized by long term feelings of sadness, helplessness etc. and which generally interfere with the everyday life of the sufferer. Depression in terms of the mental illness is much more than just 'feeling sad', and involves many more psychological aspects and outward impacts on the persons life.
- a3n 11y agoAll true, but there is situational depression too, which isn't necessarily long term, as it goes way when the situation fades or dulls, but it is nonetheless painful and dangerous.