Situational depression is an emotional and behavioral response to a stressful event. While often normal, handling these new feelings can be challenging, especially if you’re not sure if what you’re experiencing is normal or something more serious, like clinical depression.
What Is Situational Depression?
A mental health professional may diagnose an adjustment disorder if someone is experiencing emotional or behavioral symptoms that began within three months of experiencing stressful events. The type of adjustment disorder diagnosed depends on the most common symptoms.
Situational depression is a type of adjustment disorder involving a depressed mood and other symptoms. However, if anxiety or behavioral symptoms become more problematic than depressive symptoms, a different adjustment disorder may be diagnosed.
Symptoms of situational depression include:
- Depressed mood
- Tearfulness
- Feelings of hopelessness
- Anxiety
- Behavioral health challenges
- Self-harm
- Loss of energy or motivation
- Difficulty concentrating
- Difficulty sleeping
- Isolating or withdrawing from normal activities
Addressing Situational Depression Triggers
Situational depression happens in response to a stressful or traumatic event. It can be triggered by a variety of events, including a significant loss or a major life change.
Losing a Loved One
Grieving the death of a loved one is normal, and everyone responds to death in their own way. Some individuals may experience typical bereavement responses, while others develop situational depression.
How to address this situational depression:
It’s essential to allow yourself time to grieve this loss. However, spending too much time thinking about it can contribute to increased depressive symptoms. Spending time with others can give you a much-needed break from thinking about your loss. Many people find success by scheduling time to participate in grief-related activities, like individual reflection time or planned events with other friends and family.
Job Loss
Loss of employment can trigger situational depression for multiple reasons. So much of our daily lives are impacted by our employment status making it challenging to know how to respond to this sudden change. Some reasons job loss can trigger situational depression include:
- The possibility of experiencing a financial crisis
- Loss of health care coverage
- Loss of purpose
- Uncertainty about the future
How to address this situational depression:
Job loss often occurs due to factors that are out of your control. It can be helpful to identify what’s in your control and can be changed, given the resources available to you, and seek meaning and purpose in other areas of your life. Remember this is likely a temporary situation and that it is okay to seek help, especially if you can’t meet your basic needs.
Health Conditions
Receiving negative medical news about your health can cause significant stress, especially if the diagnosis includes a chronic condition or terminal illness.
How to address this situational depression:
Receiving a life-altering diagnosis can be a traumatic event. Going to a support group can help you process your diagnosis, navigate your new normal, and learn how others have coped.
Also, know that there’s a connection between your physical and mental health. Poor mental health can exacerbate physical symptoms and vice versa. Seeking professional medical advice about your diagnosis can help you keep your physical and mental health in balance.
Change in Relationship Status
Whether it’s the end of a relationship or an increase in commitment, humans need social connection and belonging. Given this basic need, it makes sense that a change in relationship status might cause emotional distress. Examples include
- Breakups
- Divorce
- Engagement
- Marriage
- Transitioning from monogamy to polyamorous relationships
- Exploring your sexuality
How to address this situational depression:
No matter why the relationship status changed, it can be helpful to take time to reflect on how this life event impacts your overall mental health. Whether the change resulted in less connection or more commitment, this is an important time for increasing your connection to your larger support system.
Family Separation
Some family separations are deliberate; one family member voluntarily discontinues the relationship with other family members. In other cases, it may be the result of specific trauma, such as separation due to deportation or immigration-related issues.
How to address this situational depression:
No matter the reason for family separation, a significant loss has occurred. Family separation is unique because individuals still experience grief but with the additional uncertainty of whether or not they will see their family member(s) again.
Rebuilding a sense of community can help increase a feeling of belonging. Depending on the severity of your traumatic experiences and the resulting symptoms of situational depression, a mental health professional may be needed to recover from this considerable life change.
Relocation
After moving, it takes time to connect with the local community and build a new social network. This can create a sense of isolation and disconnectedness, which can cause situational depression.
How to address this situational depression:
If possible, take a proactive approach to relocating. Maintaining long-distance relationships can promote well-being while you develop connections in your new community. Establishing a routine of regularly connecting with others will help you stay connected with loved ones after the move.
Retirement
Retirement creates a significant change in everyday life. Even when it’s planned, retirement is an adjustment to an entirely new lifestyle that isn’t centered on your career.
How to address this situational depression:
It’s common for retirees to struggle to find meaning in post-work life. Seeking purposeful ways to engage with the community, such as volunteer work, can help you adjust. Retirement can also be a time to increase connection with friends, family, community events, or hobbies.
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Situational Depression vs. Clinical Depression
Situational depression is similar to clinical depression, but the cause and length of symptoms differ.
Situational depression symptoms arise after a stressful event, while clinical depression, or major depressive disorder, is ongoing, and symptoms are usually present before a traumatic, painful, or stressful event.
Unlike situational depression symptoms, clinical depression symptoms are usually more severe and typically include:
- Changes in sleep habits
- Feeling guilty or worthless
- Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
- Restlessness
- Fatigue or slowed body movements
- Thoughts of suicide
People experience clinical depression when they have at least one major depressive episode or symptoms of depression happen nearly every day for two-weeks. The depression or depressed mood can be episodic, meaning you experience symptoms some weeks but not others.
Someone is likely experiencing situational depression if the depression is a direct result of a stressor and they have otherwise not experienced other mental health symptoms.
Medical Disclaimer: If you are reading this and have been experiencing suicide ideation, please call your local emergency number. Seek help now if you are at immediate risk of harm. 988 is a mental health lifeline you can call any time.
When to Seek Help for Situational Depression
Situational depression improves with proper treatment. It may be time to seek treatment for symptoms of situational depression when they persist despite making lifestyle changes. Those who have experienced a traumatic event may be at higher risk of developing problematic symptoms, which may need treatment sooner.
Therapy Can Help You Manage Situational Depression
Individual counseling is the most common treatment for situational depression. It can also be treated using online therapy, support groups, medication, or other treatment options. When engaging in active treatment, people may focus on finding ways to increase their quality of life, creating safety plans for suicide prevention, increasing coping abilities, and managing risk factors for developing another mental health disorder.
If you’ve been experiencing situational depression and don’t feel you’re improving despite making lifestyle adjustments, the skilled team at Anchor Light Therapy Collective can help. Our licensed therapists ground their treatment plans in evidence-based therapies that can improve your symptoms and help you manage your situational depression. Contact us today for your free consultation.
