Contrary to popular belief, sadness and depression are quite different from each other. Even though depression emanates from sadness, there is a fundamental difference between them. All of us feel sad, but when these feelings are extreme severe and continue for a long time and interfere with our day-to-day activities, it indicates that you are depressed. There may be several symptoms which you can identify. There are several questions that you can ask yourself to know, if you are sad or depressed, and these questions are mentioned below. Am I Depressed or Just Sad Depression and sadness are very difficult to distinguish, many people may say that they are sad, but in reality they may be suffering from depression. It's very important that you know the ways of dealing with the feeling at a very early stage and find out reasons or else it may lead to serious health complications. Sadness is a normal feeling and comes to a person whenever something upsetting happens. When sadness reaches its extreme point, its depression and is a kind of mental illness and if not treated on time; a person can contemplate suicide. One major difference is that, if you are sad you get a feeling of disconcerting and you can tell exactly the reasons for your sadness. On the other hand, a person suffering from depression would not be able to tell the reasons of sadness. A person who is sad is somewhat positive and knows that things would improve over time, while a person suffering from depression thinks that things won't ever improve. Questionnaire There are several tests and questions which you can ask yourself and see if you are sad or depressed. Some of the questions include:

• Is it difficult for you to fall asleep?
• Do you get nightmares, a feeling of turning and frequent waking?
• What is the frequency of a feeling of tiredness?
• Have you gained or lost weight (not because of dieting)?
• Has your sex drive decreased a great deal?
• Is feeling of depression a hereditary disorder?
• 'Life is not worth living', is that what you feel?
• Do you feel anxious and stressed out very soon?
• Do you show that you are happy on the outside, but are sad inside?
• Do you have a low, moderate, high self-esteem or does it fluctuates a lot?
• Think about your mood, do you feel that it's a roller coaster, and don't see any positives or see a lot of positives?
• Is there loss of interest in things which you liked doing in the past?
• Has there been any traumatic experience in your life in the recent past?
• Do you feel that disappointment and sadness is the actual part of life and people who say that they are happy are only deceiving themselves and others?

If the answers to these questions is positive most of the time, it means that you are suffering from depression. Moreover, you should also take into consideration whether these feelings are for a short period of time or for longer periods. Once you analyze these factors you will be in a better position to say whether you are sad or depressed. Am I Depressed or Just Unhappy Whether you are sad or unhappy, it means the same thing. However, as mentioned above there are differences between sadness or unhappiness and depression. There are several ways of treating depression, so that you can overcome that feeling, but it may take a long time. Whether it's unhappiness or depression, you need to engage in some kind of exercise so that the feeling of sadness goes away, even if for a temporary period. You should frequent a theater, or any other place where you used to go and enjoy yourself. If there is some work which bogs you down and makes you feel depressed or unhappy, you need to break that work into small pieces so that the target can be easily achieved. Try spending time with family and friends so that you find some happiness. And most importantly you need to imbibe an attitude of positive thinking so that you get over the miasma of this psychological state. Moreover, there are several vitamins for depression, which you can take, but remember medications may not help till you have the will to get out of that feeling. It's a gradual process and it takes time to realize that you are actually depressed. But once you realize that you are depressed, you need to take steps which would bring you out of your depressed mood, so that you can live a happy life again.