Depression
“Everything feels pointless...”
“I just feel so down all the time…”
Everyone knows what sadness feels like - the feeling of being away from loved ones on an important holiday, the grief of losing a pet, or the ache that accompanies a break-up. But, if you’ve experienced depression you know that it is so much more than just sadness. It’s a fog that seeps in and slowly permeates every corner of your life. It may start as sadness. But as it creeps in, it begins to thwart your energy, your happiness, your motivation. Before you’re even fully aware of it, you find yourself struggling to get out of bed in the mornings, get your work done, or take care of errands and chores. You want to sleep all the time or find some way to escape from the world. Nothing seems to bring you joy or pleasure anymore. Even eating or taking a shower feels like a chore. Everything starts to feel just kind of grey.
Some common struggles related to depression
Sadness, tearfulness, emptiness, or hopelessness
Anger or irritability over seemingly small matters
Loss of pleasure in activities
Sleep problems (either too much or too little)
Tiredness or lack of energy
Decreased appetite and weight loss or increased cravings and weight gain
Feelings of restlessness or agitation
Slowed thinking or body movements
Trouble thinking, concentrating, or making decisions
Frequent thoughts about death or suicide
The path back to contentment.
If you’re feeling down, depressed, or hopeless, know that your life doesn’t have to feel like this anymore. There is a way back to participating in and enjoying your life. When I work with those experiencing depression, we often start by looking at the root causes of the depression. If there is a specific event that the depression stemmed from, it can be helpful to make meaning of this event. We will work to incorporate this event into your story and learn ways to cope with it, so that you don’t have to stay stuck there. While we are tackling this, we will also work on practical skills to help you slowly find your way out of the dark place that you’re in. Often this looks like making incremental adjustments to the ways you engage with life including behavior activation, thought challenging, positive activities scheduling, and healthy routine changes. Like many things in life, there is no quick fix to instantly relieve your depression. But, we will definitely get you headed in the right direction from the first few times that we meet. You will gradually and increasingly feel better until depression seems like only a distant memory.