Why Does Everything Make Me Sad?

Sadness is a normal human emotion. There’s nothing unusual about feeling sad if something bad happens. It’s a natural reaction to difficult situations and experiences.

However, if you have sad feelings most of the time—or if your sadness doesn’t go away—you may be depressed. It’s important to understand the difference between the two.

Key Takeaways

• Sadness is a temporary response to a painful situation like the end of a relationship, loss of a job, or death of a loved one.
• Depression isn’t an emotion, but rather a chronic mental health condition that can compromise your physical health and ability to function.
• Suicidal thoughts are symptoms of depression, not sadness.
• Treatment can help individuals suffering from sadness and depression to feel better.

Why Am I Sad All the Time?

Many things can cause feelings of sadness to arise. You might feel sad because you didn’t land your dream job or because you had a fight with a friend. Recovering from an injury or experiencing a physical illness can make us said. In addition, hormonal issues or premenstrual dysphoric disorder can cause mood swings that include anxiety and sadness. Losing a loved one can trigger extreme sadness, or grief. We can also be overcome by sadness because we’re troubled by events happening in our communities or in the world of politics.

• 58 percent note a lack of meaning or purpose in their lives
• 56 percent cite financial worries as the reason for their depression
• 51 percent point to the pressure to succeed
• 45 percent experience a general sense that things are falling apart
• 44 percent experience sadness because they feel they don’t matter to others
• 34 percent blame loneliness for their persistent sadness
• Another 34 percent say climate change is part of what makes them sad all the time

Am I Depressed or Just Sad?

While sadness and depression are related, they’re not the same. Unlike sadness, depression isn’t an emotion. It’s a mental health condition that not only affects the way you feel, but also how you think and behave. Unlike sadness, depression may have genetic or biological origins or be rooted in past trauma.

Signs of depression include noticeable weight changes, sleep issues, and suicidal thoughts. How long and how frequently you feel sad are the main ways to determine whether your sadness is actually depression. If everything makes you sad and you’ve felt that way all the time for more than two weeks—and if your everyday functioning is noticeably impaired—you may be depressed.

While sadness is a common symptom of depression, feeling sad doesn’t mean you have a mental health disorder. Sadness is a response to a painful event or situation. It can be triggered by chronic stress, but it can also be interrupted by laughter and contentment. It’s a normal emotion that doesn’t linger indefinitely. Sadness typically fades on its own.

Symptoms of Sadness

Sadness occurs on a spectrum. It can range from mild discouragement that dissipates after a few hours to intense grief that temporarily renders you unable to function. Sadness is a whole- body experience. It not only causes physical symptoms, but also mental and emotional ones. Some common symptoms of sadness include:

• Low mood
• Crying
• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Stomachaches
• Disrupted sleep
• Overeating or loss of appetite
• Feeling unmotivated
• Listening to sad music
• Wanting to spend time alone
• Co-occurring feelings like anxiety, anger, guilt, or grief
• Experiencing relief after venting, crying, or talking about negative feelings

Symptoms of Depression Other Than Sadness

People who suffer from depression typically experience other symptoms in addition to feeling sad all the time. Depression can dull your sensations, overwhelm you with negative feelings, and weigh you down so heavily that it’s impossible to enjoy everyday life. When someone is depressed, their persistent sadness will often occur in conjunction with other depression symptoms, such as:

• Irritability or anger
• Restlessness
• Unexplained aches and pains
• Digestive problems
• Thinking, speaking, and moving more slowly than usual
• Memory problems
• Difficulty concentrating
• Struggling to make decisions
• Feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness
• Insomnia or excessive sleeping
• Maladaptive daydreaming
• Little to no interest in doing things they used to enjoy
• Suicidal thoughts

What Is SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)?

Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, is a subtype of depression or bipolar disorder that can cause people to feel sad. Around 5 percent of US adults suffer from SAD, which typically occurs in the fall and continues through the winter. This is why it’s sometimes called winter depression or the winter blues. Experts suggest that changes in sunlight levels can cause SAD. Less sunlight in the fall and winter can cause some people’s serotonin levels to drop, leading to extreme sadness.

Moreover, some people experience summer-pattern SAD or summer depression caused by heat, humidity, and pollen. The symptoms of winter SAD and summer SAD are slightly different. People who suffer from winter depression may struggle to wake up in the morning, have low energy throughout the day, and notice an increased appetite. Their sadness can range from mild to severe depression. Those with summer depression may experience a loss of appetite and insomnia. While they may be more energetic—even a little on the manic side—they still struggle with a sad, negative mood.

What to Do When ‘Everything Makes Me Sad’

While sadness often fades on its own, you may be impatient with the process. To begin feeling better sooner than later, there are a number of steps you can take:

Feel Your Feelings

Don’t suppress or deny what you feel. That will only make you feel worse over time. Instead, acknowledge your feelings. Cry if you need to. Sadness dissipates more quickly this way.

Have Some Fun

If you want to feel better, seek out activities you enjoy. Listen to upbeat music. Go for a walk in your favorite place. Ride a bike. Play fetch with your dog. Cuddle with your cat. Read a great book. Paint a picture. Don’t just think about what uplifts you. Seek it out and allow yourself some pleasure.

Connect with Others

If everything makes you said, it can be hard to be around people. And being alone is sometimes important in order to process a sad event. However, resist the temptation to isolate all the time when you feel sad, as it may make you feel sadder. Instead, reach out for support and unconditional love from family and close friends. Spend time with people who make you laugh and see the bright side. Authentic connections are major mood boosters.

Avoid Ruminating

While acknowledging your feelings is important, ruminating about what upsets you is not helpful. Studies show that the more you ruminate, the worse you feel. If you find yourself turning over the same thoughts in your mind again and again, find a way to break the pattern or reframe your way of thinking.

Get Outside

Staying cooped up inside is a recipe for the blues. While the sun’s rays don’t eradicate sadness, regular sun exposure can boost your mood because it increases the release of serotonin, the body’s “feel good” chemical. Get anywhere from five to 15 minutes of sunlight a few times a week to reap the benefits. But be sure to protect yourself in the middle of the day when the sun’s rays are strongest.

Try Journaling

A good way to get your feelings out of your body is to put them on paper. Grab a notebook or a journal and write about your sadness. It’s an opportunity for self-reflection, but it may help you look at your life differently, too. Journaling can help you reduce rumination, reframe your sadness, and see things from a new and healthier perspective.

Look for Glimmers

While you’re journaling or just living your life, see if you can spot glimmers. Glimmers are small moments of peace or happiness that arise from simple things, like the sight of a sunset, the sound of the rain, or a great hug from a good friend. Glimmers cue your nervous system to relax and thus have a positive effect on your mental health.

Seek Professional Support

When sadness weighs heavy or you’re overcome by grief, you may benefit from the support of a mental health professional, like a counselor or psychologist. Talk to a trained professional who will listen objectively, offer emotional support, and provide mental and behavioral suggestions. Therapy can help you process your feelings so you can move forward more easily. Additionally, a therapist will help identify whether you’re experiencing clinical depression. If that’s the case, they can support you to create a treatment plan for addressing it.

Treating Sadness and Depression

Mental health professionals treat sadness and depression in a few different ways. If you’re struggling with a mental disorder like depression, your primary care provider or therapist may refer you to a psychiatrist who can determine whether antidepressant medication will be helpful.

Other ways to treat sadness and depression involve talk therapy using a modality such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). A CBT therapist will work with you on changing your thinking patterns. They’ll help you recognize distorted ways of thinking and learn problem-solving skills to navigate difficult situations. They’ll also help change you change your behavioral patterns by encouraging you to face your fears and find effective ways to calm your body and mind. In addition to individual therapy, group therapy can be healing as well. Or try a support group to be with others who are experiencing similar feelings and finding healthy ways to cope.

What’s most important is to be open with your mental health specialist about your feelings. That includes not only feelings of sadness and depression, but also other symptoms or mental health conditions you may be experiencing. Being honest and transparent about what you’re feeling will help you find the most effective treatment.

Young Adult Depression Treatment at Newport Institute

At Newport Institute, our highly trained team of clinical experts understands how incapacitating extreme sadness and depression can be. We recognize that feeling low day after day taxes your physical health as much as your mental health. Feeling sad all the time jeopardizes important relationships and compromises your performance at school or work.

Our integrated and comprehensive approach can determine whether you’re suffering from a chronic illness like depression or dealing with situational sadness. Once we do, we customize a treatment plan that suits your individual needs. To optimize your ability to sustain your recovery, we’re most interested in locating the root cause of any mental health issue.

Our clinicians might use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to reduce painful and destructive thoughts. They might also incorporate scientifically validated experiential therapies such as creative arts therapy, outdoor adventures, and mindfulness techniques. Through individual, group, and family therapy, our clients build emotional resilience, rediscover joy, and begin to appreciate life again.

Get Started Today

Contact Newport Institute today to learn more about our approach to young adult treatment and our locations around the country. 

Frequently Asked Questions