Is it Depression?

-Ask the Expert-

Question:

Hi, mine is not really a problem, it is more like a worry. I do not understand if what happens me is depression or just part of my personality. At times I have a very enhanced sensitivity to the emotions that life offers me. This causes me to cry, sometimes a lot, but without feeling any pain (physical or emotional.) It happens, for example, when I listen to some songs that I really like, even if they are not related to any past experience. It seems to me like the need to express something too beautiful to be kept inside me.

Other times, instead, I feel the need to go vent praying, or better, talking to friends and family members that are no longer with us. I do not really suffer from the void they left in my life, but I get sad thinking about the pain of the people that they left, and about the years of this wonderful life that they could not experience by dying young.  I am one of the most optimistic people I know, in my life I had plenty of freedom to make my own choices, I am mechanic and I love my job.

Of course I too had to face some personal problems, especially health-related, that are now pretty much solved. I do not think that my behavior is something negative (or at least I hope!) also because I noticed something similar in my mom and my grandfather, they cry at family-birthdays or in other joyful occasions. Sometimes I cry just by watching the news, if it happens something very unfair or tragically unlucky.

What do you think? Can it worsen and become depressions or it is all under control? Thanks!

Answer:

Fabio, you surely are a very sensitive person, and so easily touchable by emotions. This is not a problem itself; on the contrary it is a great tool to fully understand people and relations. Although carefully reading your question, I noticed here and there some sadness related to the loss of important persons of your life. I do not have enough information on your life or on the events that characterized it, but maybe your cries are somehow related to a feeling of emptiness. A beautiful song or a birthday can make you cry because someone that you love(d) is not present. This can be perceived as a tremendous unfairness. And similar emotions can sometimes be felt listening to the news.

Dear Fabio, your optimism is itself one of the best cures out there for these kinds of situations. I understand that you fear falling into a depression, but I think that the whole matter has to be read based on the present rather than on the hypothetical future. You are happy with your life, you solved your health issues, you like your job. Maybe you feel the need to share this joy with someone that is no longer here, or that you miss. If this is the case you might want to try to establish some new relation, and if you still feel this emptiness, do not hesitate to ask for help. Not because affected by who-knows-what sickness, but just to be helped to better handle these emotional outbreaks.

Answer:

Antonino Gallo, Psychotherapist

Question: Fabio, 29 years old

Publication date: 02/28/2007

Interested in the topic? Check out the article Is depression a sickness?

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