Why Do I Feel Sad For No Reason?

Why Do I Feel Sad for No Reason?

There are many reasons why someone may be sad for no reason. Usually, occasional experiences of sadness are normal, especially if something is going on in your life, such as a job or relationship change, or if you are dealing with stress in other areas of your life.

However, sometimes feeling sad could be a sign of depression, especially if the feelings are prolonged and appear to worsen.

What Is the Difference Between Sadness & Depression?

Sadness is usually a temporary state with a clear reason, such as stress, losing someone you love, or experiencing recent disappointments. It will often last less than two weeks. Depression, on the other hand, lasts at least two weeks. “It’s much more than sadness or low mood.”¹

Although sadness and depression are often used interchangeably in social circles and mainstream media, there is a difference between the two. Knowing the differences between sadness and depression and how they manifest can help you determine whether what you are experiencing is normal or if you could benefit from additional support.

Reasons You May Be Depressed & Not Realize It

It is very possible for a person to be depressed and not realize it. Due to stereotypes of depressed people being easy to spot, many assume they would know if they had depression. However, depression does not always look like persistent sadness, lethargy, or inability to get out of bed, as the media would have us believe.

Being in denial of your symptoms, unaware of how they manifest in you due to stereotypes, or struggling to realize it due to stigmas and shame about depression are all common reasons someone can have depression but not know it.

Here are a few reasons you may be depressed and not realize it:

• You’ve struggled with depression for a while, and so this state has become your “normal”
• You are in denial due to shame and stigmas
• Your depression manifests differently than others
• You thought the signs were just a normal part of getting older
• You are male- as men with depression often have different symptoms

Signs & Symptoms of Depression

There are some ways that you can learn how to recognize depression in yourself. Being mindful of changes in your routine is an important part of recognizing signs. Take note of changes in yourself, such as sleeping more or eating less, and acknowledge new difficulties, such as the inability to concentrate or focus on work tasks.

Common signs and symptoms of depression are:^{2, 3}

• Feeling like you’re moving or speaking slower than usual
• Decreased motivation and desire to complete tasks you once enjoyed
• Noticeable decrease in energy
• Sleep changes such as insomnia or sleeping too much
• Inability to concentrate or make decisions
• Noticeable weight loss or gain/noticeable appetite changes
• Decline in sex drive
• Apathy, or feeling like you just don’t care anymore
• Feeling worthless
• Suicidal thoughts

Types of Depression

When we think of depression, often symptoms of major depressive disorder come to mind. However, there are many different types of depression.

Types of depression include:

• Perinatal or prepartum depression: Perinatal depression involves episodes of depression symptoms that present during pregnancy.
• Premenstrual dysphoric disorder: Premenstrual dysphoric disorder, or PMDD, generally shows symptoms up to a week before your menstrual period starts. Symptoms present as depression, irritability, anxiety, and being overwhelmed.
• Postpartum depression: Postpartum depression is depression symptoms that are experienced during pregnancy or anytime in the first year after giving birth. It can present as pervasive stress or worries about your ability to care for your new baby or even intrusive thoughts about harming yourself or your baby, making it difficult for you to bond with your child. Unlike the “baby blues,” which usually resolve within a couple of weeks and often without intervention, postpartum depression differs greatly.
• Seasonal affective disorder (SAD): SAD is a form of depression during certain seasons. It is a type of mood change that occurs during seasonal changes, often getting worse during colder months.
• Psychotic depression: Psychotic depression is a severe form of depression where someone experiences symptoms of psychosis along with depression.
• Major Depressive Disorder: Feeling persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, despair, along with other symptoms that are present for at least two weeks.³
• Dysthymia: This is when a person experiences persistent and chronic symptoms of low level depression. It is less severe than major depression, with most people reporting mild symptoms. It is sometimes classified as Persistent Depressive Disorder.³

Other Reasons You May Feel Sad for No Reason

Depression is not always the reason for feelings of sadness. If depression does not seem to be the right reason for you, there are other reasons that could explain these feelings such as trauma, experiencing job burnout, or substance use.

Other reasons you may feel sad without an obvious reason:

Trauma

Having a traumatic history that you have not fully dealt with can create lingering feelings of sadness. Many people try to push aside their childhood trauma, which creates a sort of denial that ends up appearing later down the road.

Even if you have fully dealt with your trauma history, healing can ebb and flow. Therefore, it is normal to have occasional feelings of sadness that creep up even years after the experience has been worked through. This is normal, and it should pass within a few hours or days.

Shift in Hormones

Our hormones affect everything from our appetite, sex drive, mood, and energy level. Having a change or shift in hormones can make a person sad for no reason.

This is especially true in females, or those who have the female hormones of estrogen and progesterone, or anyone who experiences a sudden change in their hormones. Because hormones affect our mood, a shift in hormones can definitely provoke, or increase, feelings of sadness.

Weather Patterns & Seasonal Changes

Some people are more affected by seasonal weather changes than others. Rain and cold, dark weather can influence mood and cause sadness in some people who are more sensitive to these changes.

If you experience some sadness or slight mood changes as the seasons pass, this is a normal response. However, if you find that your symptoms are more similar to depression, rather than sadness, it could be a sign of seasonal affective disorder.

Loneliness & Isolation

Having a lack of social support would make anyone feel sad, especially if they are experiencing feelings of loneliness. Moving to a new town where you do not know anyone, starting a new job, or even having a fallout with a friend group can all contribute to feelings of sadness.

Job Burnout

Feeling unfulfilled, or even burned out from your job or career can contribute to feelings of sadness. If you notice that you are more sad around work time, and it gets better after you clock out or when you have a day off, it is worth looking into whether burnout is a cause of your mood changes.

Life Stressors or Changes

Have you recently changed jobs or graduated? Or are you caring for a loved one who is sick? All of these changes in your life can create stress, which affects physical and mental health. Feelings of sadness are completely normal during life stressors.

Grief – Even If the Loss Happened A While Ago

The stages of grief are not linear, and feelings of sadness over your loss can reemerge unexpectedly, even some time afterward. Major life events that you wish you could share with your loved one who died, or the anniversary of their passing can trigger feelings of sadness, even years after the loss. However, complicated grief can occur when a person is unable to resume their normal life activities due to an intense preoccupation with the loss more than a year after their loved one’s death. This can impact their health, relationships, and ability to function in everyday life, and often requires the help of a therapist to work through these challenges, most often using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).⁶

Lack of sleep

While insomnia and sleep problems can be a symptom of depression, research shows that lack of sleep can actually cause changes in mood, making a person feel more anxious or depressed. The less sleep you get, the more difficult it can be to regulate your emotions, which can lead to feelings of sadness, and even depression, down the line.⁷

Bipolar Disorder

People with bipolar disorder experience extreme highs (mania) and lows (depression). During periods of low mood, feeling sad for no apparent reason can happen along with low energy, irritability, and/or hopelessness. When periods of sadness fluctuate with times of high energy, elevated mood, and impulsivity, they could be caused by bipolar disorder.⁸

Substance Misuse

While substance misuse can be related to self-medicating in order to cope with symptoms of pre-existing depression, anxiety, or other mental health disorders, misusing substances can also trigger feelings of sadness, loneliness, and hopelessness, and lead to substance use disorder. Certain substances, like alcohol, opioids, and cannabis, have been linked to depression, and withdrawal from these substances, and others, can also lead to feelings of depression.

Underlying Medical Issues

If you’re facing a serious medical issue, like cancer or heart disease, or a chronic, debilitating illness like lupus, diabetes, or arthritis, it is possible that this underlying medical issue could cause unexplained sadness. A life-changing diagnosis can be overwhelming, and a grieving process can occur as you might lose the ability to do things you once enjoyed. Chronic pain has been shown to cause depression, and living with any chronic disease can decrease quality of life and lead to feelings of sadness.⁹

How to Cope With Feeling Sad for No Reason

Occasionally feeling sad or down for no apparent reason is totally okay. It’s normal, and usually not a cause for concern. However, if you notice that you are becoming sad more often, or want to explore where the feelings may be coming from, here are some ways to cope.

Here are six tips for how to cope with feeling sad for no reason:

1. Explore the Cause in Therapy

Therapy is a great place to begin exploring the cause of your sadness. Some people prefer individual therapy, where they are alone with the therapist, while others get more benefit from group therapy, due to the peer support element.

There are benefits to any type of therapy, so the key is finding what works best for you while taking time and cost into consideration. Group therapy is cost effective and therefore more attainable to many.⁴

Here are a few types of therapy that can help cope with feeling sad for no reason:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): CBT for depression helps a person identify the thoughts and triggers for their depression, and helps them to work on ways to decrease these triggers to relieve symptoms.
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing: EMDR for depression is a type of therapy used to decrease the depressive symptoms often associated with trauma, such as those with PTSD.
• Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT): DBT for depression involves teaching skills to people to help decrease the intensity of depression, and to help improve emotional regulation skills.
• Group therapy: Group therapy, specifically when led by non physicians, has shown effectiveness in supporting people with depression due to having peer support to bounce ideas and suggestions off of.
• Psychodynamic therapy: Psychodynamic therapy is a technique that helps a person develop insight into their self and environment to help decrease the symptoms they are experiencing.
• Art and music therapy: Expressive therapies such as art and music therapy are highly recommended for depression and sad feelings because of the emotions evoked in creative therapies.⁵

2. Open Up to Your Loved Ones

Many people with depression feel ashamed about their feelings, and worry that they are bothering others. Therefore, opening up to others can be a struggle for them, and many choose to suffer silently instead. Opening up to loved ones can help you feel less isolated and more supported. Start by talking to one person who you feel comfortable with, and see how it goes from there.

3. Consider Medication

If you find that you are struggling with persistent sadness that does not go away, or reappears frequently, it is okay to have a discussion with your medical or mental health providers to see if medication might be an option for you.

Antidepressant medications such as SSRIs or SNRIs are sometimes needed for people who notice that their feelings of sadness are actually a symptom of depression or another mental health condition.

4. Allow Yourself to Feel it

When you experience a feeling of sadness, go ahead and let yourself feel it rather than trying to ignore it or push it away. Occasional feelings of sadness are okay, and are sometimes your body’s way of telling you something. Allowing yourself to cry could be beneficial as crying can be good for you.

5. Go Easy on Yourself & Practice Self-Compassion

There is often a great deal of shame or frustration that comes with mood changes, especially when they seem to come out of the blue. Remember to show yourself some emotional self-care and go easy on yourself during this time, along with making sure to get adequate rest.

6. Make Time for Something You Enjoy

When you’re experiencing a time of sadness, it can help to spend time doing something you enjoy. Whether you love kayaking on the river, cooking a favorite meal, or escaping into the pages of a bestseller, filling your time with activities you love will offer a reprieve from the sandness. Scheduling activities you enjoy, even if you’re feeling sad, has been proven to help combat depression.¹⁰

7. Move Your Body Regularly

Getting your body moving is great for your mental health! Exercise releases endorphins, the natural chemicals in your brain that promote well-being. Regular exercise improves mental health and is a healthy habit that can offer a positive coping strategy to turn to when you’re feeling sad. Exercise has even been shown to reduce the impacts of clinical depression.¹¹

8. Spend Some Time in the Sun

Sunlight is incredibly beneficial to mental health. Direct sun exposure promotes vitamin D in the body, an essential vitamin that plays a role in mood regulation. Some researchers also believe that the sun prompts the body to make more serotonin, a chemical in the body that the most popular depression medication, SSRIs, aims to replicate.¹² Getting out in the sun each day also helps promote better sleep and a healthier circadian rhythm. Just be sure to apply sunscreen!

9. Listen to Upbeat or Calming Music

Music might help regulate mood and promote positive emotions. Happy, upbeat music can lift your spirits, while calming music can soothe feelings of worry and anxiety. Putting on some carefully-selected music can be a positive coping strategy for dealing with feelings of sadness.

10. Add Some Humor Into Your Life

Humor can promote resilience and reduce negative emotions. There’s a growing body of research that demonstrates the stress-reducing benefits of laughter. When you laugh, you increase the oxygen in your body, your brain releases mood-boosting endorphins, and it slightly increases your heart rate and blood pressure like a mini-workout.¹³

When to Seek Professional Support

Occasional feelings of sadness are rarely a cause for concern, especially if there is a lot of stress or change going on in your life. However, if you find that your feelings are preventing you from being able to complete tasks or manage obligations, or you want to explore the reason for the sadness, therapy can help.

You can find a therapist in a local therapist directory or online therapy platform. There are also many online psychiatrist options that could be a good choice for finding depression medication management.