How to Tell If You Are Stressed or Depressed
Stress and depression can look and feel very similar to each other. Some of the common symptoms for both include problems with sleeping, eating, concentrating, and mood, as well as difficulty with daily tasks. Physically, stress and depression overlap in many ways, as both affect the immune system, resulting in an increase in certain inflammatory markers.
In depressed patients, changes in the brain are similar to those seen with chronic stress. And chronic stress, if left untreated, can lead to depression. For example, adults who experienced severe adversity during childhood that led to toxic stress have much higher rates of depression .
“Biology is different, but they have a lot in common,” says Philip Muskin , professor of psychiatry at Columbia University.
Here’s how to tell stress from depression.
Stress is phase in nature
There are clear differences when it comes to stress and depression, especially when it comes to effective treatment options. One of the main differences between stress and depression is that stress can come and go.
“Stress is what is a phase phenomenon for most people. You are in a stressful period and you are getting out of it, ”says Maskin. “Depression is not like that. For some people, depression lasts for years. In some people it may disappear spontaneously, but not in all. “
For example, if a happy event occurs, such as when friends or loved ones visit, the stressed person may feel happy at that moment, although the stress will likely return when they are gone. A depressed person will not be able to feel happiness at this moment, even if he knows that he should.
“If you can come home from work and still recharge, it’s not serious clinical depression,” says Cheryl Ziegler , psychologist and author of Burnout Mom: How to Recover Your Life and Raise Healthier Children . “Clinical depression doesn’t come and go.”
So how do you treat stress? Muskin advises reducing it through measures such as exercise, meditation, and mindfulness, as well as reducing the source of stress.
Depression is a disease
For a depressed person, stress-reducing measures such as exercise or walking in nature may help, but not cure them.
“At certain levels of depression, nothing but medication will help,” Muskin says.
Depression is essentially a brain disease. Just as we treat an infection with antibiotics, depression often requires medication. For a severely depressed person, no amount of “mind is more important than matter” or “desire to give it up” will work. Instead, the person suffering from depression needs treatment.
“Depression is no different from any other illness,” Muskin says. “This is a medical condition.”
If you are experiencing stress or depression, the most important thing is to know that help is available and can get better. When it comes to stress, this includes reducing the source of stress and finding ways to cope with it. For depression, this includes medication such as therapy and medications.
Regardless of what the right decision may be, know that there is one, and taking the first step to get the help you need may be the most important of them all.