Introduction. It is increasingly important to make distinction between bipolar and unipolar depression because treatment and prognosis are different. Objective. Find differences in subjective experience (first person) between unipolar and bipolar depression. . Method. We used a phenomenological-oriented semi-structured interview based on Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience (EASE). Results. The predominant mood in unipolar depression is sadness and bodily experience is of a body that feels more comfortable with the stillness than activity, like laziness of everyday life. The predominant mood in bipolar depression is emotional quenching. The bodily experience is of a heavy, tired body; an element that inserts between the desires of acting and performing actions and becomes an obstacle to the movement. Furthermore, bradypsychia, concentration difficulty and hopelessness were greater in bipolar than unipolar depression. Conclusion. Qualitative differences in the predominant mood and bodily experience were found between bipolar and unipolar depression.