Depressed or Just Unhappy?

Am I depressed or just unhappy? A difficult question you may think, but it is my opinion that a depressed person knows when they are depressed and a sad person knows when they are sad.

It is perfectly human to experience the feelings of sadness. There is not one person on this planet who will live their life and not experience sadness. Sadness is a natural reaction to a painful circumstance. Depression on the other hand is more extreme, a clinical illness which has many more symptoms than general sadness and can, if not treated lead to suicide.

A person experiencing feelings which upsets them can logically distinguish what it is that is causing the unhappiness. Whereas a person suffering depression can not necessarily do so. As a person suffering sadness would know, their feelings will begin to heal over a period of time, this person is dealing with their pain and know that it will get better over time. Whereas a person suffering depression tends to get worse and see that they are feeling sad more-or-less all the time with little or not let-up.

Depression can last for weeks, months and for some years. It is not something that a person can merely