What exactly is depression?
Depression is one of the most common mental health struggles, and something many people experience at some point in their lives. Depression looks different for everyone, and can present itself both emotionally and physically.
It can involve feelings of sadness and/or no longer doing the things you used to enjoy. Or maybe you do things you once liked, but no longer find any joy in them. You may also struggle with feelings of hopelessness, emptiness, guilt, worthlessness, and even irritability.
Physically, you may notice that your eating habits are different (not eating as much or eating much more than usual), sleep difficulties (sleeping much more than normal or not being able to sleep), and/or feelings of low energy or fatigue. Given all of the above you might not be able to concentrate on things. You may also have thoughts of harming yourself, which can understandably be scary for you and the people around you. Always remember that everyone is different in terms of how they may experience this struggle.
However, whatever specific symptoms you may be experiencing, as you know depression can impact your life in so many difficult ways, including your work, relationships, school and your overall quality of life.
Depression or sadness?
Now one common question is, “Doesn’t everyone feel sad at times in life?” Absolutely. Sadness is a normal emotion and part of our life experience. However, if the feeling doesn’t go away, is intense and experienced with some of the symptoms above, and has a significant impact on your life, you are likely experiencing more than just sadness.
Counseling for depression:
You do not need to deal with this alone. I understand that when you are depressed it is very hard to feel hopeful that anything will help or that things will change. I like to think that this is one of the things that I can do, which is hold on to the hope that you might not be able to have for yourself right now.
We can work together to come up with a plan using research supported skills to move you from living a life that is controlled by depression. This can involve any number of things including exploring the link between your thoughts and your feelings, setting realistic goals for reengaging in pleasurable activities (and addressing the obstacles that come up for you in doing this), and working on issues that might be contributing to feelings of depression.
You might be saying, “But I already tried that” or “I feel like I’ve tried everything.” That is not uncommon by the time people reach out for treatment. It can be very powerful to do this work within the support of therapy and you may be able to accomplish things in therapy that you haven’t been able to on your own. We will work together to come up with the approach that feels like the best fit for you to help you to feel better. Our ultimate goal is to get you back to what matters and is important to you in your life.
