Depression.
Depression is a fairly common experience. Statistics show that one in four people will experience depression at some time in their lives. Although there are common symptoms that lead to a diagnosis of depression, the experience itself has a wide range of causes and contexts.
How do you know if you are depressed? If you go to a doctor, a psychologist or a counsellor, they will look for symptoms such as sadness, suicidal thoughts, loss of pleasure, negative feelings about yourself, loss of interest in life, low energy, difficulty concentrating, changes in sleep pattern and appetite, and loss of interest in sex. If you have some of these and other symptoms you may meet the criteria for depression. However, meeting the criteria does not tell the whole story.
I like to divide depression into two main categories: physiological depression (or depression that is predominantly in your brain) and emotional depression (or depression that is predominantly in your heart). When someone is physiologically depressed, they may not notice that they feel sad at all, but they can have symptoms like spontaneous crying, low energy, brain fog, difficulty concentrating and changes in sleep and eating patterns. This kind of depression may be caused by an imbalance in the brain and may be more effectively treated with anti-depressant medication.
Most of the clients I see who are suffering from depression have a more emotionally based depression. They may feel sad, have negative thoughts, possibly including thoughts of killing themselves. They often have little to no motivation, are irritated, and are generally unhappy with their lives. The cause of their depression can stem from difficult life events, past trauma, or a lack of love in their childhood. They may have developed a negative way of thinking about themselves, and these negative thoughts bring them down, to the point that they spiral into a dark hole that they can't seem to get out of.
The counselling approach I use for depression will depend on your history of depression and what symptoms you have. When I work with clients in Duncan I usually use a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy and depth psychotherapy. A big part of changing the effects of depression involves changing the negative thinking pattern and the negative lifestyle that goes along with it. But you may also want to look at how you got into these negative patterns and to heal the painful life experiences that caused your emotions to shut down. If this sounds like the kind of counselling you would like I will be happy to work with you to help free you from the burden that depression can become.
Other issues I work with include:
