Despondency or depression: How to tell the difference and what to do

Depression and despondency destroy a person from within. Photo: 1gai

Different systems of thought – secular culture, Church tradition, popular psychology, and clinical psychiatry – interpret the same terms in different ways. Therefore, the first step is to clarify the concepts themselves.

What despondency means
Despondency can take many forms. In everyday usage it often means “feeling down” – low mood, apathy, discouragement. Such a state may arise from fatigue, bad weather, disappointment, or minor illness. Usually it is short-lived and passes with rest, a change of environment, or simple diversions, leaving no serious consequences.

In the ascetic tradition, however, despondency is a serious spiritual problem, one of the most destructive passions. It is a refusal to hope for healing, a loss of faith in God’s love. St. John Chrysostom described it as “a grievous torment of the soul, an indescribable affliction, a punishment more bitter than any other suffering.” In this sense, despondency comes close to what today we call depression.

What depression means
Depression, by contrast, is a medical diagnosis – a serious mental disorder affecting not only emotions but also the body. A depressed person no longer finds joy in life, loses energy, and often even the meaning of existence.

According to St. John Chrysostom, when a person breaks spiritual laws, sorrow arises as a signal of error that needs correction. But if one fixates on sorrow itself, on how badly one feels, it becomes entrenched as a passionate thought. Repeatedly traveling the same path, this thought gradually forms a dominant “neural trunk” that suppresses other faculties. The passion then becomes a fixed way of relating to reality. As one expression aptly puts it: “Depression is despondency that has passed into the body,” when inner anguish manifests in physical symptoms – sometimes immediately, sometimes after being suppressed for a long time.

Warning signs
How can one distinguish temporary despondency from depression? If a person feels persistently low for more than two weeks, cannot find strength for anything, loses interest in ordinary activities, suffers from poor sleep and appetite, and feels guilt, worthlessness, or hopelessness – these are warning signs. Worsening memory, slowed thinking, physical weakness, or thoughts of death and suicide confirm that this is depression. Such a condition rarely resolves on its own, and the person needs the support of loved ones to seek help.

How to respond
Coping with temporary despondency is easier. Often it is enough to identify its cause – fatigue, monotony, or disappointed expectations. A walk, trying something new, restoring a daily routine, refusing to dwell on gloomy thoughts, distracting oneself with useful or interesting activity, or talking with a friend may help.

For a believer, the first remedies are prayer, reading Scripture, reflecting on the meaning of life, frequent thanksgiving to God, learning to notice small blessings in everyday life, serving others, participation in the Sacraments, and resolving to correct mistakes that caused sorrow. But if despondency deepens and turns into depression, more serious steps are needed, including professional help. The role of a good spiritual father is invaluable, and ideally physician and priest could work together in caring for such a patient.

In any case, it must be remembered that depression involves not only spiritual causes but also physiological factors, which often expose those spiritual roots. Yet the lessons of depression can sometimes be understood only after emerging from it, looking back at the path one has traveled.

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