In order to understand the difference between sadness and clinical depression, we must first understand that sadness is felt universally, while clinical depression may not be. The textbook definition of clinical depression is 'a change in mood along with a cluster of symptoms'. These symptoms are emotional, cognitive, somatic, and behavioral. For example, we all will experience sadness when we loose a loved one, and we all have different ways of grieving, There is no …showed first 75 words of 241 total…

…showed last 75 words of 241 total…come from a certain precipitant, or is grossly out of proportion to a precipitating factor. The Quality- the mood may change from previous and feels different from 'normal' sadness. The Associating Features- the change in mood may come with a cluster of symptoms, and History- the mood change may be preceded by a history of past hyperactivity and/or elation. Clinicians are able to follow these guidelines to help differentiate between sadness and clinical depression.