The Blues / Depression Distinction

Blues refer to the bad feelings people get because of negative experiences such as losses, loneliness, discrimination, stress, and burnout. "Blue" people feel upset but can still function. Depressed people, by contrast, have bad feelings but can't function in the basic areas of life such as work, relationships, or managing their health--no matter how hard they try.

The following list highlights the differences between everyday blues and clinical depression.

• Blues: Your bad feelings are based on real-life experiences. They are healthy, appropriate reactions to negative events.

• Depression: Your moods are based on feelings that are bigger than life---exaggerations, delusions, denial, fantasy, or misunderstanding. They are unhealthy reactions to a chemical and psychological imbalance.

• Blues: You have good reason to feel sad, angry, guilty, or anxious because of a loss or trauma, but you assume that eventually you'll get over it.

• Depression: You figure that what's happening to you now is a harbinger of more losses in the future and there's nothing you can do to stop them.

• Blues: You feel temporarily helpless, but, hey, it's not that bad and certainly not worth killing yourself over it.

• Depression: You feel a sense of hopelessness, despair, and think about killing yourself to avoid the pain.

• Blues: You just want to be left alone and don't want to see anyone for several hours or a day or two.

• Depression: You are emotionally withdrawn and isolated for weeks or months at a time,

• Blues: You feel hurt and upset, but you believe that you'll heal.

• Depression: You hate yourself and constantly feel bad about yourself.

• Blues: Your bad mood is healthy because you can fix what's wrong and come out of it with wisdom, maturity, and creativity.

• Depression: There is nothing productive about your mood. Your depression paralyzes you, and you feel physically and mentally worn down and sick.

Is It in Your Head, or in Your Genes?

Depression results from a chemical imbalance in the brain and a negative, distorted way of thinking. Like heart disease and hypertension, depression runs in many families.

Depression is almost always caused by a combination of one or more of the following factors:

• The disease runs in your family's gene pool.

• You lost a parent early on and never recovered from the trauma.

• You're having troubles at work or in your marriage.

• You have seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

• You aren't excercising or eating right.

• You have low self-esteem.

• You suffer from another medical illness.

• You grew up surrounded by people who were always negative and depressed.

You are more likely to develop depression if you inherited the depressive gene or if you were raised in an environment surrounded by people who always felt beaten down, hopeless, and powerless. But not everyone who inherits depression will succumb to the disease--or at least be depressed all the time. The disorder may skip a generation, or the depression may be triggered only when other factors are present--too much stress or the death of a loved one, for example.

If you are at risk, take extra care of yourself. Avoid high--stress environment, you can still reduce your risk of getting depressed by getting plenty of sleep, exercising, and eating healthy. When something gets you down, tend to it right away!

If you follow your doctor's orders and you still can't seem to lift your spirits, seek professional help to stop the symptoms from getting worse. Think of this depressive illness as being like cancer. If you know you are susceptible to breast cancer, you'll examine your breasts for lumps more regularly. If discovered early, the disease will be far more treatable.