I think it’s important to distinguish between PAWS and depression. A person in post acute withdrawl can have emotional states that include sadness and irritability but the emotions are somewhat more transient. Pronounced sadness that is more or less continuous should be checked out by a mental health professional to rule out depression.
I’m a big fan of AA but it would be good to remember that one of its cofounders suffered from debilitating depression for decades after writing the big book (and presumably doing all the steps thoroughly). While the steps may help some with depression, this mental health condition is better left to those trained to diagnose and treat it.