What is the main diffirence between negative symptoms and depression

negative symptoms and depression are very similiar from outside. what is the main diffirence?

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Ive definitely had both and its very hard to tell but usually when depressed i have a very numb emotionless aside from sad feeling and also suicidal thoughts seem to go with it for me.

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mine experience
depression: feeling sad
negative symptoms: cant feel anything, feeling flat

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For me negative symptoms I feel like doing nothing, everything is pointless, just stare at the wall for ages, sit still and not move much, no vocal inflection.
Or I want to do something but it’s very hard to get moving.
More of a lack of mood element

Depression probably also goes under the everything is pointless feel like doing nothing.
But I’ll also get very negative and pessimistic and also suicidal thoughts/imagery.

That’s about the best I can differentiate it

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I had negative symptoms without depression, i think that the difference, when i had it i was very blunted emotionally where as depression you get very sad and down, i felt nothing

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Negative symptoms is more feeling numb and flat and blunted in life for me.
Depression is sadness hopelessness for me.

Both of them can affect activity levels in me.

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That makes some sense. I wonder about how much negative symptoms apply to me. My stepdaughter has said in the past I’m emotionally flat . My pdoc said that can happen with the APs.

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neg. sx. – no: responses, motivation,“get up and go”, pleasure sensatation, thoughts/words, appearing flat

depr: sadness, emptiness, weary, worrying, guilty, meditating, glass half empty, no pleasure

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im not emotionally flat but i feel flat and i have serious demotivation

exactly same…

People tell me they can’t read my emotions at all but I definitely feel them so is that flat affect? I just have trouble expressing them. They’re all buried deep within me.

As people above said.

In depression i have too many feelings - sadness, guilt, selfloathing, suicidal feelings, despair, hopelessness.

With negative symptoms (only on meds) i have too little feelings - no drive, no joy, no sadness, no motivation, no love, indifference, just no response to things.

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I think the main difference is awareness.

When I’m depressed I’m aware that I’m depressed, but when I have negative symptoms I’m not aware that I have negative symptoms.

Negative symptoms and depression have the exact same symptoms. The only difference is that with depression, you have a sad mood associated with it. With negative symptoms, there is no sad mood present. That’s the way my last pdoc explained it to me.

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