Not Only Sadness, But Also Irritability Points To Depression

It is not just the constant and very intense grief, but rather the hopeless and discouraging “but” that points to depression in a healthy mind. Yet sadness need not manifest itself as a symptom in a depressed person, as irritability is its well-known cousin.

Strange as this may sound, a depressed person doesn’t necessarily have to appear sad, but they will show signs of irritability, frustration, or imbalance. Somatic complaints, grumpiness, discomfort, physical pain, emotional mood swings, etc. All these characteristics, instead of sadness, can be very clear symptoms of an emotional problem such as depression.

So you could say that anger outbursts, callousness, irritability, aggression and authoritarianism can sometimes be just a cry for help from the dark pit that depression drags us into.

Irritability as a characteristic to recognize depression

According to data from both the latest version of The Manual for the Classification of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and the International Statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), a clinical diagnosis of depression can be made if the individual, among other things, instead of sadness shows signs of irritability.

That is, if a person is constantly depressed and frequently gets angry, if he has a tendency to react to unpleasant events with fits of anger or to insult others or to become overly frustrated with even the most trivial things, then this person can person suffer from a pathologically depressed mood.

In contrast, children and young adults may exhibit a state of irritability or imbalance, rather than a sad or despondent state of mind. In this case, it must be possible to distinguish the behavior from the behavior pattern of a ‘spoiled child’.

However, we must emphasize that irritability, like sadness, is of course not enough in itself to immediately think that someone is depressed. There must also be other signs and symptoms.

According to the classification systems we mentioned above, these two symptoms are necessary, but not sufficient to diagnose depression in a person. So it is important to understand that both anger and sadness are not enough to deal with depression.

Sadness and irritability are emotional states that are treated unfairly

Sadness and irritability are, in themselves, healthy emotional states meant to let us know that something is bothering or hurting us. These moods only become pathological when they disrupt our lives and hinder our personal, social and work situation for a long time.

You usually have to be very careful with irritability, as it pushes us to do things without feeling bad about it. Thus, a persistent state of mind stained by this imbalance can be very devastating.

Being quick to freak out, making unkind comments, being intolerant, lack of patience, being constantly nervous, often getting irritated, reacting inappropriately, distance yourself from certain people because they are unpleasant, etc. All of these can indicate that something is wrong is in our lives and we need to do something about it.

Thus, the anger or irritability that occurs when a person suffers from depression is a way of expressing the things a person feels but does not express. For example, imagine that a depressed person feels as if he is being oppressed, as if he has to wear a scarf around his neck that weighs a ton.

This makes him feel depressed, as if his vitality is slowly fading and the scarf is preventing him from walking normally. It hinders his life and throws his mood out of balance. This represents the imbalance and the difficulty with which these people have to carry out their daily tasks.

With the little strength that this scarf still grants him, he is then able to eat and sleep a little at best. This is the weight of fear, expressed through a stifling reality of sadness or irritation, depending on the person and, of course, the moment.

Depression and anxiety are not signs of weakness.

Depression and anxiety do not equate to weakness, nor are they the result of personal choice contaminated with surrender or negligence. Read more.