Sadness or mood swings are not necessarily associated with depression.
Being depressed is not the same as having depression.
The characteristics of being depressed:
- Normal depressive reaction related to certain life events (bereavement, separation, divorce, job loss, bankruptcy…).
- Time-limited.
- Fickle phenomena, the person still responds to certain pleasures and other stimuli.
The characteristics of depression:
- Moral pain that leads to an abrupt change in behaviour, in the way of being, of which those around you become aware.
- The duration of true depression is usually long (> 2 weeks).
- The depressed person does not respond to stimuli and finds little or no pleasure in any activity.