<p>Depression can be defined as "a state of feeling sad" (<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/depression" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Merriam-Webster</a>), which is an <strong>emotion</strong> or a <strong>feeling in the heart.</strong> </p>

<p>Depression can develop as a <strong>reaction</strong> to a thought, demand, event or word someone said to you.</p>

<p>You may have a certain "character" or "temper" that makes you vulnerable for things that hurt you and make you sad. So, it is correct to say that you are not depressed as a person but you may be prone to become depressed when something hits you.</p>

<p>Depression is a feeling and not a disease and it usually does not come from an underlying disease, but from the conflicts in your thoughts, attitudes, believes and relationships - which you can accept or change, as appropriate. Depression can make you stop functioning, which you can call a disease, but depression on its own is not already a disease.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-22T17:19:23.587Z
-1, you provide a general source for the less important bit, and pass about the other, more contentious, 3 paragraphs.
Quora Feans
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-22T17:24:01.600Z
For me, the main question being asked (through all the paragraphs) is if depression is a part of a personality (character, temper..) or is just a symptom that comes and goes.
Jan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-22T14:39:08.650Z
2019-10-22T16:02:15.627Z
2019-10-22T16:02:15.627Z
Jan
<p>I have been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, commonly known as depression.</p>

<p>Some days ago I had a discussion with my therapist about whether or not depression is part of the person I am. She says that indeed it is and that I should accept it as a part of my being. I should not fight it, but rather accept it. I should not see it as a "demon" trying to mess with my life, but rather as a part of me asking for attention, rising from the dark depths of my mind where I try to bury it. It is a helpess child, my own inner child, crying and asking for help for only apparently no reason, and I should not "beat it up" and yell at it to "go back into its room", but rather ask what's wrong and cuddle it. </p>

<p>I disagree, as I think that I <em>have</em> depression, but I <em>am not</em> my depression. I'm <em>suffering from</em> a depressive episode, but I <em>am not</em> a depressed person, as I am a completely different human being when I'm not going through an episode. I <em>have</em> an illness, I <em>am not</em> my illness. I might come to terms with the fact that I indeed have depression and that I have to deal with it, but this doesn't mean accepting it as a part of me. I fight it as I fight a flu or a cold. I accept the fact that I have come into contact with the virus, I can't be mad for that, I can't just willingly remove it from my body simply because I don't want it, but that illness is not a <em>part</em> of me, though it affects my everyday life and forces me to feel and act in ways I'd rather not.</p>

<p>You might ask to clarify what I mean with "part of who a person is", so let me try to explain further: is depression part of someone's personality, consciousness, temper, character? Or is it, as a disease, a negative and abnormal <em>influence</em> on someone's regular and healthy behavior? Am I someone who tends to be negative, irritable, hopeless, unexplainably sad and tired, self-loathing, apathetic, suicidal, because that's who I <strong>am</strong>, or do I <strong>suffer from</strong> such symptoms of my illness?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-22T17:25:32.843Z
The non-fictional book "Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity" by Andrew Solomon and the documentary with the same title deals partially  with such issues. Are you interested in this kind of material?
Quora Feans
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-23T13:41:19.180Z
Welcome to psych.SE.  If I am diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (currently incurable), then should I accept the illness as part of me (I am diabetic), or view it as something I have (I have diabetes)?  It is both and either to different people and at different times - at times it is something to fight and at others it is something to manage.  I'm afraid that this question is very likely to invite opinion-based answers, so I am closing it as such.  If it can be rephrased to solicit objective evidence-based answers, then it can be reopened.
Arnon Weinberg
<depression>
Is depression part of who a person is?
StackLloyd
# Is depression part of who a person is?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-10-22)

I have been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, commonly known as depression.

Some days ago I had a discussion with my therapist about whether or not depression is part of the person I am. She says that indeed it is and that I should accept it as a part of my being. I should not fight it, but rather accept it. I should not see it as a "demon" trying to mess with my life, but rather as a part of me asking for attention, rising from the dark depths of my mind where I try to bury it. It is a helpess child, my own inner child, crying and asking for help for only apparently no reason, and I should not "beat it up" and yell at it to "go back into its room", but rather ask what's wrong and cuddle it.

I disagree, as I think that I *have* depression, but I *am not* my depression. I'm *suffering from* a depressive episode, but I *am not* a depressed person, as I am a completely different human being when I'm not going through an episode. I *have* an illness, I *am not* my illness. I might come to terms with the fact that I indeed have depression and that I have to deal with it, but this doesn't mean accepting it as a part of me. I fight it as I fight a flu or a cold. I accept the fact that I have come into contact with the virus, I can't be mad for that, I can't just willingly remove it from my body simply because I don't want it, but that illness is not a *part* of me, though it affects my everyday life and forces me to feel and act in ways I'd rather not.

You might ask to clarify what I mean with "part of who a person is", so let me try to explain further: is depression part of someone's personality, consciousness, temper, character? Or is it, as a disease, a negative and abnormal *influence* on someone's regular and healthy behavior? Am I someone who tends to be negative, irritable, hopeless, unexplainably sad and tired, self-loathing, apathetic, suicidal, because that's who I **am**, or do I **suffer from** such symptoms of my illness?

**Tags:** depression

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The non-fictional book "Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity" by Andrew Solomon and the documentary with the same title deals partially  with such issues. Are you interested in this kind of material?  
> **username_2**: Welcome to psych.SE.  If I am diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (currently incurable), then should I accept the illness as part of me (I am diabetic), or view it as something I have (I have diabetes)?  It is both and either to different people and at different times - at times it is something to fight and at others it is something to manage.  I'm afraid that this question is very likely to invite opinion-based answers, so I am closing it as such.  If it can be rephrased to solicit objective evidence-based answers, then it can be reopened.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-10-22. Score: -1

Depression can be defined as "a state of feeling sad" ([Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/depression)), which is an **emotion** or a **feeling in the heart.**

Depression can develop as a **reaction** to a thought, demand, event or word someone said to you.

You may have a certain "character" or "temper" that makes you vulnerable for things that hurt you and make you sad. So, it is correct to say that you are not depressed as a person but you may be prone to become depressed when something hits you.

Depression is a feeling and not a disease and it usually does not come from an underlying disease, but from the conflicts in your thoughts, attitudes, believes and relationships - which you can accept or change, as appropriate. Depression can make you stop functioning, which you can call a disease, but depression on its own is not already a disease.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: -1, you provide a general source for the less important bit, and pass about the other, more contentious, 3 paragraphs.  
> **username_3**: For me, the main question being asked (through all the paragraphs) is if depression is a part of a personality (character, temper..) or is just a symptom that comes and goes.  

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