Depression or Funk. What’s the difference?

Most people think of depression as being sad all the time, but there’s a lot more to it than that. Here’s how to tell whether you’re depressed or in a funk. Healthyway.com interviews Dr. Amy Serin to help readers determine if they are experiencing depression or are just simply in a funk.

“Depression is a mental illness—a mood disorder, to be specific—while sadness is a mood or feeling. This distinction might seem simple, but if you’re struggling with a low mood, it can be hard to tell the difference.”

When I was in my first year of university, I couldn’t figure out if I was miserable or depressed. I cried often, I struggled with my sleeping patterns, my immune system was weak, and I felt irritable and unmotivated all the time. Am I depressed? I wondered. Or am I just moody?

While I felt sad, it eventually became clear that it wasn’t a bad mood or a response to one specific life change—I had depression. And while help was available, I needed to acknowledge that I was depressed before anything could get better.

We often associate depression with sadness, and we often use the word depressing or depressed to mean very sad. Some people even use it to talk about relatively normal life events: “I’m so depressed he canceled our date!” or “This history class is so damn depressing.” For this reason, it can be difficult to tell whether you’re truly depressed or simply upset. Like me, you might be asking yourself, Am I depressed, or am I feeling sad, hopeless, or unmotivated?

Read the rest of the article on Healthyway.com >

Serin Center

If you are located in the Metro Phoenix Arizona area, Serin Center has two offices located in Peoria, AZ, and Scottsdale, AZ that can provide testing for Dyscalculia and provide Independent Educational Evaluations. Contact us today to discuss how we can help.

Our educational evaluations can provide diagnoses and generate specific goals and treatments to help your child succeed. Completed in Peoria & Scottsdale AZ