Is depression from losing someone the same as any other depression?

The first time you fall in love and break up could be the most devastating. For me, breaking up with someone I loved always caused a debilitating depression. Even though I knew what would happen after the first time, it was never any easier.

It was different when someone died. The pain came sharp and fast, but seemed to get over more quickly.

Are depressions that have a clear external cause really that much different than a depression from losing someone? Clinical depression, at least for me, seemed to come from nowhere, for no reason. When you break up with someone, or someone you care about passes away, at least you have a reason to feel the way you do. With depression, it’s not very predictable about when it will come. When you lose someone you care about, you know what will happen.

What’s your experience with losing someone? Is it different when you break up with a lover than when someone you care about dies? Do you think that knowing where the depression comes from makes a difference in how it feels? Does it make it any easier to cope? Or are they really the same thing, and it doesn’t matter what causes it?