Thats not the whole story, however.
Depression is more complicated than that.
Thats why many people who have depression dont recognize it as such.
JGI / Jamie Grill / Getty Images
And its why people often show disbelief when they learnsomeone has depression.
Everyone experiences and displays depression in their own way.
Individuals with depression do share some common emotional experiences, however.
Simply putting a name to them can help your brain make more sense of what is going on.
Naming feelings decreased the duration and intensity of uncomfortable emotions.
It may not be helpful to just identify what youre feeling as depression.
Keep in mind that you are likely to feel more than one emotion at a time.
And sometimes, those emotions might feel conflicting.
You might be both happy and sad.
Or, you might feel anxious and excited.
Its normal to experience all types of emotions simultaneously.
A Word From Verywell
If youre struggling to identify your feelings, youre not alone.
Its tough to doand depression makes it even more difficult to name your emotions.
Torre JB, Lieberman MD.
Putting Feelings Into Words: Affect Labeling as Implicit Emotion Regulation.Emotion Review.
2018;10(2):116-124. doi:10.1177/1754073917742706
