Depression

What can the experience of depression look and feel like?

While depression is one of the most common mental health challenges, individual experiences of it vary greatly. They can range from feeling irritable, fidgety, and agitated to not being able to get out of bed in the morning. Ordinary daily tasks, such as getting to work or caring for yourself and your family may suddenly seem like insurmountable obstacles that leave you feeling helpless and hopeless.
Often, depression feels like being tired for a long period of time and not being able to enjoy things that used to bring pleasure. It may be difficult to get a good night’s sleep, there may be changes in your relationship with food and substances, and there can also be a pervasive feeling of sadness, that far exceeds the normal feelings of “feeling blue” that we all experience from time to time.

What are some common causes?

Different approaches to therapy point to different possible causes of these experiences. It is important that together we determine the ones that make sense to you and find ways to gradually help you feel that you are able to deal with the ups and downs of everyday life.

Why can it be hard to face on your own?

The unique challenge of overcoming the experience of depression is that, when you are tired and not able to find pleasure in whatever used to be your source of joy, it can be very difficult to find motivation. Without motivation it is difficult to make changes that would ultimately lead to improvement, which can contribute to lack of motivation and form a vicious circle.

How can therapy help?

You do not need to be alone with this experience. Among other things, it is important to realize that you are not the only person who finds coming out of depression difficult. Feeling isolated, feeling like this is somehow your fault, that you should be able to find ways to function and deal with this on your own will only make emerging on the other side more challenging.

Together we can find ways of making this task feel less intimidating. Working together, we will look for ways of making sense of this experience, creating a path to enjoying life again, and growing through overcoming this challenge.