Depression- another lens
What Is Depression?
Depression is often described as sadness, but this is misleading. Sadness is a feeling. Depression is a state of existing- one that reshapes how the world appears, how time moves, and how the self is experienced.
People with depression are not simply unhappy. They are often exhausted by existence itself.
What’s Happening in the Brain?
Depression involves real, measurable changes in how the brain functions — not because something is “broken,” but because the brain has adapted to prolonged stress, threat, or depletion.
The Threat System Stays Switched On
The brain contains networks designed to detect danger and respond quickly. In depression, areas involved in threat and negative emotion — particularly the amygdala — tend to become more active.
This means:
The brain is more sensitive to perceived problems or failures
Negative information is prioritised
Neutral events can feel threatening or overwhelming
At the same time, systems involved in regulation and perspective — especially the prefrontal cortex — often become less effective under chronic stress. This makes it harder to:
Reassure yourself
Think flexibly
Imagine change or alternative outcomes
This is why telling someone with depression to “think positively” doesn’t work. The brain systems required to do that are often temporarily offline.
Depression and the Loss of Energy
Depression is profoundly physical.
People often experience:
Heavy limbs
Slowed movement
Exhaustion that rest doesn’t relieve
A sense that everything requires effort
Neuroscientifically, this relates to changes in motivation and reward systems involving neurotransmitters like dopamine. Dopamine helps us anticipate pleasure and feel energised toward goals. In depression, this system becomes blunted.
As a result:
Motivation drops
Pleasure feels muted or absent (anhedonia)
The future feels unrewarding
This is not laziness. It is the nervous system conserving energy after prolonged strain.
Depression as a Shift in Meaning
One of the most striking features of depression is not pain, but the collapse of meaning.
Things that once mattered like relationships, ambitions, creativity, even pleasure can feel distant or unreal. Activities aren’t necessarily rejected; they simply no longer reach the person. The future stops pulling. The past feels heavy. The present becomes something to endure rather than inhabit.
In this sense, depression is not just emotional suffering. It is a profound alteration in how meaning is organised.
The World Feels Heavier
People with depression often describe the world as:
Muted or flat
Overwhelmingly effortful
Strangely distant or unreal
Ordinary tasks like getting dressed, replying to messages, making decisions can feel disproportionately difficult. This is not laziness or lack of motivation. Depression drains psychological energy, making even small actions feel costly.
The body slows. The mind loops. Time stretches.
Depression and the Self
Depression also changes how a person relates to themselves.
There is often a harsh inner voice that is critical, shaming, absolute. Thoughts like:
“I’m a burden.”
“Nothing will change.”
“This is just who I am.”
These thoughts do not usually feel like opinions. They feel like truths. Mattter of fact realities. Depression narrows perspective, making it difficult to imagine alternative futures or remember different versions of yourself.
Importantly, this is not a failure of insight or intelligence. Depression constrains the mind’s ability to generate hope.
Not Just an Illness — Not Just a Mood
Depression is sometimes framed purely as a chemical imbalance, and sometimes purely as a reaction to life circumstances. Both explanations are incomplete.
Depression is biological, psychological, relational, and existential.
It can be shaped by:
Stress and loss
Trauma or emotional neglect
Chronic pressure or burnout
Loneliness and disconnection
Genetics and nervous system sensitivity
Often, depression emerges not from a single cause, but from prolonged strain without enough support.
The Function of Depression
This may sound counterintuitive, but some theorists suggest that depression can function as a kind of psychological shutdown.
When demands exceed capacity for too long, the system slows everything down. Energy is withdrawn. Engagement decreases. It is not a choice, it is a survival response.
From this perspective, depression is not the enemy. It is a signal that something has been too much, for too long.
Why Advice Often Misses the Mark
Well-intended advice like “try harder,” “be grateful,” or “just think positively” often fails because it misunderstands what depression is.
Depression is not a lack of effort or attitude.
It is a reduced capacity.
Telling someone with depression to “do more” without addressing exhaustion, meaning, or safety is like asking someone with a broken leg to run.
Depression and Isolation
Depression is profoundly isolating.
Not only because people withdraw, but because depression convinces people that:
They are alone in how they feel
Others wouldn’t understand
Reaching out would be a burden
This creates a painful paradox: the more someone needs connection, the harder it feels to seek it.
Depression and the Inner Voice
Depression often comes with a cruel internal narrator.
Thoughts like:
“I’m a burden.”
“Nothing will change.”
“This is who I really am.”
These thoughts don’t feel like opinions. They feel like facts.
Neuroscience helps explain why: under depression, the brain’s error-detection and threat systems dominate, while systems associated with hope, imagination, and novelty are suppressed. The mind becomes biased toward certainty — even when that certainty is bleak.
This is why depression is so convincing. It doesn’t argue. It declares.
What can help?
There is no single solution to depression, but certain principles matter:
Being understood rather than fixed
Reducing shame rather than increasing pressure
Restoring meaning slowly, not forcing motivation
Safe connection, not isolation
Professional support when possible
For many people, therapy offers a space where their experience is taken seriously and not minimised, rushed, or moralised.
Medication can also be helpful for some, particularly when depression is severe or long-standing. This is not a failure; it is another form of support.
A Final Reframe
Depression does not mean you are weak.
It does not mean you are broken.
It does not mean you have failed at life.
It means something in you has been carrying too much, for too long, without enough safety or support.
And while depression can feel timeless, it is not permanent. Meaning can return. Energy can rebuild. The world can regain texture and weight.
Often, this happens not through dramatic change—but through small, steady moments of being met, understood, and accompanied.