What is Depression?
“There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t”
John Green
Depression is more than “feeling low” it is a complex and enduring condition that impacts many aspects of life. Many describe it as a constant feeling of debilitating sadness and loss of interest that can inhibit your ability to complete normal day to day activities, and have a significant impact on your relationships with others. Depression can wax and wane from relatively minor to very severe, and is generally a mix of several factors and events culminating in feelings of helplessness.
Depression can impact your thoughts, feelings and behaviours. People have described a loss of pleasure in things they usually enjoy and a feeling of having nothing to look forward to or feel optimistic about. Depression can mean that your outlook on the world and yourself feels bleak and joy can feel like an unachievable mystery when times are hard.
To depress something means to “push it down”, depression can often be categorised by a lack of emotion, a feeling of being cut off from the world and a thrumming, consuming pain, that can , at times feel all consuming and leave a sufferer without hope. Depression can result from deep wounds and trauma, life events and personal factors.
Common symptoms of depression include:
Feeling bad about oneself, or like you have let people down
Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism
Loss of interest in things you once enjoyed
Irritability and feelings of frustration
Difficulty sleeping or sleeping too much
Changes in appetite or weight
Low energy and a feeling of being slowed down
Physical pains such as back pain or digestive issues that cannot be explained by a physical cause
Feelings of wanting to harm yourself or that you would be better off dead.
*if you or someone you know is talking or thinking about harming themselves please call 999 for immediate crisis intervention.
How can therapy help?
Many studies have indicated that people with depression have benefited greatly from psychotherapy * and that depression is a treatable and manageable condition.
Psychotherapy can be the safe, non-judgemental place where you can explore how you feel, and with my help, acknowledge and accept these feelings. The therapy I offer will help you explore possible root causes of your depression; we can look at life events that may have contributed to the depression and find ways to work through these. We can Identify distorted thought processes or unhelpful behaviours that contribute to feelings of hopelessness and helplessness and develop skills to cope with symptoms and problems and identify or prevent future episodes of depression.
Therapy will allow you to harness greater self-awareness about your feelings and behaviours, and the subconscious conflicts that may help explain them. Therapy can also help you develop stronger internal resources to recognise patterns, develop stronger coping strategies and identify tools you can use going forward in your life.
If you are suffering with depression, you do not have to face this alone. Therapy is a treatment which uses the relationship with your therapist to offer a safe space, where your feelings can be shared and held, and you can spend time working through these difficult feelings at a pace that works for you.
If you are in pain, reach out today.
*InformedHealth.org. Cologne, Germany: Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG); 2006-. Depression: How effective is psychological treatment?