What’s the difference between grief and depression?

Where does your sadness come from? If you can identify an answer and that answer is tied to missing somebody or something or a change in your life, to me, that goes back to situational depression or grief-related depression, but if you say, “I don't know. I can't identify a life circumstance that makes me feel sad,” that may signify clinical depression.

The word depression is most important for treatment purposes. If you're dealing with grief, you can get treatment for grief. You can also get treatment for clinical depression. You're just going to label it what you need and talk to your provider. All labels are personal. What label feels right for you is something that we all have to negotiate when we're managing our complex chronic diseases, especially in mental health.

Sometimes folks haven't acknowledged their depression, or they haven't recognized it in themselves yet. Grief can trigger a depressive episode that makes you realize that you've lived with this for longer.

The most important thing from a treatment perspective is having enough insight. If you’re going into therapy, and part of your recovery from depression is related to your grief, then bring it up. Talk to your provider about it, and find others who can help you walk through that path. The labels just give us deeper context to understand our minds and where our sadness or anxiety comes from.

Theresa Nguyen

What’s the difference between grief and depression?

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