--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is no point in treating a depressed…" description: "\"“There is no point in treating a depressed person as though she were just feeling sad...Sadness is more or less like a head cold -- with patience, it p..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9e/barbara-kingsolver-200_depressed_there-is-no-point-in-treating-a-depresse_1910320.png" --- # There is no point in treating a depressed person as though… ![“There is no point in treating a depressed person as though she were just feeling sad...Sadness is more or less like a head cold -- with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.” quote by Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9e/barbara-kingsolver-200_depressed_there-is-no-point-in-treating-a-depresse_1910320.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9e/barbara-kingsolver-200_depressed_there-is-no-point-in-treating-a-depresse_1910320.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9e/barbara-kingsolver-200_depressed_there-is-no-point-in-treating-a-depresse_1910320.png) > ““There is no point in treating a depressed person as though she were just feeling sad...Sadness is more or less like a head cold -- with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.”” [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Depression is a severe illness, not just fleeting sadness, requiring serious attention and care. **In simple terms:** Depression is a serious illness, not just sadness. Key Takeaway Treat depression as a medical condition. Themes mental health illness empathy Mood concerned empathetic Type educational advocacy When to use this quote - family support - therapy - medical treatment - public awareness Key Concepts psychology stigma healthcare Questions to Reflect On - How can we improve societal understanding of depression? - What support systems help those with depression? A Different Perspective Depression may not be fully comparable to physical illness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Depressed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depressed/) [Depressed person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depressed-person/) [Depression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depression/) [Feeling sad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feeling-sad/) [Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patience/) [Sadness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sadness/) ## Related quotes > [“I remembered my pep talk to Esperanza a few months before, and understood just how ridiculous it was. There is no point in treating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/i-remembered-my-pep-talk-to-esperanza-a-few-months-before-and/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [There is no point treating a depressed person as though she were just feeling sad, saying, 'There now, hang on, you'll get over it.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/there-is-no-point-treating-a-depressed-person-as-though-she-were-just/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“how ridiculous it was. There is no point in treating a depressed person as though she were just feeling sad, saying, There now, hang…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/how-ridiculous-it-was-there-is-no-point-in-treating-a-depressed/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Sadness is more or less like a head cold - with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/sadness-is-more-or-less-like-a-head-cold-with-patience-it-passes/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [One of the things that frequently gets lost in descriptions of depression is that the depressed person often knows that it is a ludicrous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/one-of-the-things-that-frequently-gets-lost-in-descriptions-of/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [A depressed person is often a person who will push others away. If you are pushed away and pushed away and pushed away, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miriam-toews/a-depressed-person-is-often-a-person-who-will-push-others-away-if-you/) [Miriam Toews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miriam-toews/) > [To judge a person the best thing is just stop talking and if he/she comes to know that ur depressed then that is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-jain/to-judge-a-person-the-best-thing-is-just-stop-talking-and-if-he-she/) [Abhishek Jain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-jain/) > [You can try to have all the friends in the world to cover up your bitterness inside but if your not happy with or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisette-alfaro/you-can-try-to-have-all-the-friends-in-the-world-to-cover-up-your/) [Lisette Alfaro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisette-alfaro/) > [“Earlier in the day, while killing some hours by circling in blue ballpoint ink every uppercase M in the front section of a month-old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/earlier-in-the-day-while-killing-some-hours-by-circling-in-blue/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [I have been a depressed person most of m life. I was always in the throes of self-hatred.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/i-have-been-a-depressed-person-most-of-m-life-i-was-always-in-the/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [I think I've gotten a pretty fair shake in the music press over the years. The only think that kind of irks me is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thalia-zedek/i-think-i-ve-gotten-a-pretty-fair-shake-in-the-music-press-over-the/) [Thalia Zedek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thalia-zedek/) > [If you have a little sensibility or a heart, you have all the reason to be depressed once in a while. But the depression…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/if-you-have-a-little-sensibility-or-a-heart-you-have-all-the-reason/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [Away from the bright motion of the party, she carried her sadness like a dark stone clenched in her palm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-edwards/away-from-the-bright-motion-of-the-party-she-carried-her-sadness-like/) [Kim Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-edwards/) > [You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness, Like resignation to the end, Always the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gotye/you-can-get-addicted-to-a-certain-kind-of-sadness-like-resignation-to/) [Gotye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gotye/) > [You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness. Like resignation to the end, always the end. So when we found that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gotye/you-can-get-addicted-to-a-certain-kind-of-sadness-like-resignation-to-2/) [Gotye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gotye/) ## More by Barbara Kingsolver > [“Jesus was a more reliable backer, evidently, less likely to drink himself unconscious or get liver cancer. No wonder people chose Him as their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/jesus-was-a-more-reliable-backer-evidently-less-likely-to-drink/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Now I'm starting to think he wasn't supposed to be my whole life, he was just this doorway to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/now-i-m-starting-to-think-he-wasn-t-supposed-to-be-my-whole-life-he/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Cooking is 80 percent confidence, a skill best acquired starting from when the apron strings wrap around you twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/cooking-is-80-percent-confidence-a-skill-best-acquired-starting-from/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“In Bobby Ogle's version of heaven everyone would wind up in one place, criminals and Muslims included.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/in-bobby-ogle-s-version-of-heaven-everyone-would-wind-up-in-one-place/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Weeds are job security for the gardener.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/weeds-are-job-security-for-the-gardener/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“It's what you do that makes your soul, not the other way around.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/it-s-what-you-do-that-makes-your-soul-not-the-other-way-around/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Lusa turned to Crys, her eyes shining. "That was a luna." Crys shrugged. "So?" "So? So what? You want it should sing, too?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/lusa-turned-to-crys-her-eyes-shining-that-was-a-luna-crys-shrugged-so/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [The strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/the-strength-of-motherhood-is-greater-than-natural-laws/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“An imperfectly remembered life is a useless treachery. Every day, more fragments of the past roll around heavily in the chambers of an empty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/an-imperfectly-remembered-life-is-a-useless-treachery-every-day-more/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Respecting the dignity of a spectacular food means enjoying it at its best. Europeans celebrate the short season of abundant asparagus as a form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/respecting-the-dignity-of-a-spectacular-food-means-enjoying-it-at-its/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Somehow it had come to pass that this man was her whole world, and she had failed to take his measure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/somehow-it-had-come-to-pass-that-this-man-was-her-whole-world-and-she/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [After 'The Poisonwood Bible' was published, several people believed that my parents were missionaries, which could not be further from the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/after-the-poisonwood-bible-was-published-several-people-believed-that/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [I can count all the ways in which being a mother has enriched my understanding of the world, of character, my sense of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/i-can-count-all-the-ways-in-which-being-a-mother-has-enriched-my/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [But we've all ended up giving body and soul to Africa, one way or another. Even Adah, who's becoming an expert in tropical epidemiology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/but-we-ve-all-ended-up-giving-body-and-soul-to-africa-one-way-or/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [If the Lord hasn't got a boyfriend lined up for me to marry, that's his business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/if-the-lord-hasn-t-got-a-boyfriend-lined-up-for-me-to-marry-that-s/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) [Explore all 939 Barbara Kingsolver quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) ## More Depressed quotes > [I get very anti-social, depressed and irritable with people. I don't have time for them. I can't make phone calls and stuff. I just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-cowell/i-get-very-anti-social-depressed-and-irritable-with-people-i-don-t/) [Simon Cowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-cowell/) > [Most people do surprisingly poorly when dealing with a relative who is hurting, depressed, or anxious - we get defensive and try to solve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-d-burns/most-people-do-surprisingly-poorly-when-dealing-with-a-relative-who/) [David D. Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-d-burns/) > [Like everybody, you get nights where you feel completely depressed. You start thinking about all the bad things and think about the glass half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lights/like-everybody-you-get-nights-where-you-feel-completely-depressed-you/) [Lights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lights/) > [I was always very depressed, even when I was a youngster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-hatton/i-was-always-very-depressed-even-when-i-was-a-youngster/) [Ricky Hatton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-hatton/) > [I'm hurt all the time. I don't want to cry for the way I feel inside. I just want someone to hold me... I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-hurt-all-the-time-i-don-t-want-to-cry-for-the-way-i-feel-inside-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [For me being depressed means you can spend all day in bed, and still not get a good night's rest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-guest/for-me-being-depressed-means-you-can-spend-all-day-in-bed-and-still/) [Judith Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-guest/) > [I don't think I suffered with depression, I don't think I'm a depressed type of person - I just think I suffered a depression…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronnie-o-sullivan/i-don-t-think-i-suffered-with-depression-i-don-t-think-i-m-a/) [Ronnie O'Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronnie-o-sullivan/) > [Im not depressed. Just stressed and confused. Im not happy at all. I smile sometimes. And I laugh most times. I honestly dont know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/im-not-depressed-just-stressed-and-confused-im-not-happy-at-all-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life is to short to being living with stress I'm to young to be all depressed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-to-short-to-being-living-with-stress-i-m-to-young-to-be-all/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I've definitely had times in my life where I've been depressed and not able to do anything at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-lynskey/i-ve-definitely-had-times-in-my-life-where-i-ve-been-depressed-and/) [Melanie Lynskey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-lynskey/) > [I got really depressed when Sidney Moncrief lost to Larry Bird. That really depressed me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-besser/i-got-really-depressed-when-sidney-moncrief-lost-to-larry-bird-that/) [Matt Besser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-besser/) > [I got into the music business thinking it was really radical, that it wasn't really a business at all, that it was a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-yorke/i-got-into-the-music-business-thinking-it-was-really-radical-that-it/) [Thom Yorke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-yorke/) > [I was depressed. I knew I was lost, but I had no idea how to find myself again. It was as though I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmina-khadra/i-was-depressed-i-knew-i-was-lost-but-i-had-no-idea-how-to-find/) [Yasmina Khadra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmina-khadra/) > [Everything that gave her pleasure was small and depressed him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/everything-that-gave-her-pleasure-was-small-and-depressed-him/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [If I don't do high-intensity interval training classes for an hour every morning and yoga a few days a week, I get depressed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/davinia-taylor/if-i-don-t-do-high-intensity-interval-training-classes-for-an-hour/) [Davinia Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/davinia-taylor/) [Browse all 1,033 Depressed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depressed/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There is no point in treating a depressed person as though she were just feeling sad...Sadness is more or less like a head cold -- with patience, it passes. 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