What Does Depression Feel Like?
Medically reviewed by Dakari Quimby, PhD
Depression is a debilitating mood disorder that goes beyond simply feeling sad. People with clinical depression, or major depressive disorder (MDD), often lose their ability to experience pleasure. Not being able to feel pleasure is called anhedonia. The inability or reduced ability to feel joy is a key symptom of depression.
This article describes what depression feels like for someone going through a major depressive episode, its symptoms, and when treatment is necessary.
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Misunderstandings About Depression
A common misconception about depression is that someone with clinical depression who's going through a major depressive episode can just "snap out of it" or "cheer up" by looking on the bright side, seeing the proverbial glass as half-full, or making an effort to be more optimistic.
From the outside, a person with depression might appear the same as usual to onlookers. But when a clinically depressed person looks in the mirror, they might see their own reflection and feel as if the person they used to be has disappeared and worry that their "former self," who could feel happiness, will never return.
Depression can feel like a black hole that sucks all the light from your soul. Memoirs about depression often use metaphors relating to darkness or a lack of sunshine/daylight in their titles (e.g., Darkness Visible, Shadows in the Sun, The Noonday Demon). People with depression describe feeling chronic emptiness like they're stuck in a hopeless abyss of nothingness or trapped in a cave of despair with no light at the end of the tunnel.
People going through a major depressive episode often feel as if they've been transported to a hellish place. Because clinical depression increases negative affect and reduces positive affect, it changes how someone sees the world. Through a depressed person's eyes, their negative affectivity can make everything seem hopeless and bleak.
In people with clinical depression, activities that once brought happiness are no longer joyful. This feeling of anhedonia makes it nearly impossible to feel joy, motivation, or interest.
Related: How Signs of Depression Feel and Look
What Depression May Feel Like
Each person's experience of depression is unique. The examples of "how depression feels" listed below only scratch the surface. There isn't a one-size-fits-all way to describe feelings of depression that's universal. That said, here is how depression may feel for people:
No Pleasure or Joy in Life
The inability or reduced ability to feel pleasure and joy in life is a telltale sign of depression and one of its most common symptoms.
Difficult to Concentrate
People with depression often lose their ability to concentrate or focus their attention, which can negatively impact day-to-day functioning.
Feeling Hopeless
Hopelessness is a common feeling in people with depression. It can make them feel less motivated, and prevent them from completing tasks..
Lack of Self-Esteem
Low self-esteem and depression are strongly correlated, although researchers aren't sure if one necessarily causes the other. Most likely, the two are intertwined in ways that perpetuate one another.
Difficulty Sleeping
Sleep disorders are pervasive among people experiencing depression. However, not everyone with depression has difficulty sleeping. During a major depressive episode, some people sleep all the time and have trouble getting out of bed.
Low or Nonexistent Energy Levels
People with depression often feel trapped in a cycle of fatigue marked by extremely low or nonexistent energy levels. During a major depressive episode that's lasted for more than two weeks, it can leave a person always feeling tired.
Food Seems Unappetizing
Depression can trigger changes in the brain that make food seem unappetizing, which can lead to sudden weight loss. A sign of depression is losing more than 5% of total body weight in a month.
Craving Comfort Food
Not everyone with depression loses their appetite; some people crave comfort foods. During a major depressive episode, feelings of emptiness and loneliness may be alleviated by comfort foods.
Aches and Pains
Depression can change neural mechanisms in the brain that make people more susceptible to feeling physical aches and pains.
What Depression Symptoms Do Healthcare Providers Look For?
When screening for depression, healthcare providers typically look for nine symptoms listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) as clinical depression symptoms, which are:
Depressed mood marked by unyielding sadness, hopelessness, and chronic emptiness
Loss of interest in once-enjoyed things or inability to feel pleasure (anhedonia)
Sudden weight loss or weight gain (more than 5% body weight change in a month)
Insomnia (not sleeping enough) or feeling sleepy all the time (hypersomnia)
Slow movements and reaction speeds
Loss of energy or debilitating fatigue
Feelings of worthlessness or excessive, unwarranted guilt
Diminished ability to concentrate or focus attention
Thinking about death or having suicidal thoughts
In Crisis? Text or Call 988
If you're feeling hopelessly depressed or having thoughts of suicide, reach out and ask for help. You can connect anonymously with a supportive crisis counselor for free at 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline anytime, day or night, by texting or calling 988 or communicate via online chat. Dial 911 if it's an emergency.
When to Contact a Healthcare Provider
If you or someone you know has symptoms of depression lasting more than two weeks, contact a healthcare provider. It's especially important to reach out and get help if depression symptoms are causing debilitating hopelessness or impairing how someone functions in their day-to-day life.
Summary
Clinical depression goes beyond just feeling sad. Everyone feels sad from time to time. But when you're having a major depressive episode, the sadness or feelings of emptiness can last for weeks. People with depression often lose their ability to feel any joy or happiness. Not being able to feel pleasure makes life miserable.
Because depression changes how the world looks, everything can seem dark and hopeless when you're depressed. If you or someone you know has been feeling hopelessly depressed for more than two weeks, text or call 988 or reach out to a healthcare provider.
Read the original article on Verywell Health.
