A woman managing a difficult, prolonged legal dispute over several years describes feeling worn down and doubtful she can see it through, but remains actively engaged with her hobbies, her friendships, and her work, describing her low feeling as entirely about the legal situation itself. Before revealing the answer: is this most likely a depressive illness?
No, this is better understood as demoralization. Her low state remains closely and understandably tied to the specific prolonged struggle (the legal dispute), and her interest and engagement in unrelated areas of life — hobbies, friendships, work — remain relatively well preserved, which is exactly the pattern that distinguishes demoralization from a depressive illness, where the loss of interest and pleasure would typically be more pervasive across areas of life.
References
- Casey, P. & Kelly, B. (2019). Fish's Clinical Psychopathology, 4th ed. Ch. 6, 'Disorders of Emotion'.