Depression

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About Depression

Depression can begin small, but can produce some of the most vicious of cycles.

We can all have a sad day, this is normal. If we have the skills and resiliency we can have a sad day, and then use self compassion and coping strategies to feel better later. When we're sad we kind of know that it will end.

Depression on the other hand, can feel never-ending. Our inner voice becomes a constant critic, or worse, an abusive monster. It can feel like you're on a boat with too many holes to stop it from sinking, and a feeling of not even being able to bother to try to plug them up.

Others have described depression symptoms like a fog you didn't realise was there, sometimes so thick you can't even see where to place your next foot to put it in front of the other. So oppressive it can be hard to breathe, it cloys at you and turns you in circles. Dizzy, you sometimes can't even see the help being offered to you.

This can lead to feelings of suicide and the thought that it would be easier if life were over. We can’t see our way out. It can also lead to avoidance strategies like using substances such as alcohol, drugs and overeating. Even things that may at first look healthy but turn into addictions such as over exercising, cleaning and controlling our environment too much, obsessive dieting leading to eating disorders, self care turning into social isolation etc.

Benefits of Treatment & Therapy for Depression

• Developing healthy balanced coping strategies: Education about healthy coping strategies such as mindfulness, routine, acceptance, realistic thinking and challenging cognitive distortions allows us to reduce symptoms of depressions.

• Getting a better night’s sleep: When you are experiencing depression it can make it difficult to fall asleep, may cause you to wake up too soon or can lead to oversleeping. This can have an impact on your energy levels during the day. Lack of sleep or too much sleep can also make depression more severe. By seeking treatment for depression it can help you improve your sleep patterns, through various techniques including CBT for Insomnia, learning about good sleep habits, and learning “winding down” techniques that help to turn away from rumination at night.

• Improving relationships: Depression can have a major cyclical effect on our relationships and it is not unusual for people to drop out of contact or for us to become isolated when we have symptoms of depression. Treatment for depression consists of creating and bettering our social connections and our feeling of “belonging”.

• Life satisfaction and enjoyment: Depression can often prevent us from feeling like we can engage in the pleasurable things in our life. Symptoms of depression include feeling a lack of enjoyment in things we previously loved. Treatment for depression includes us engaging in our sense of play, being mindful of the positive things we have in life, focusing on gratefulness and ‘found beauty’ and re-engaging with our values by living a life of meaning.

• Relief From pain: When you are receiving treatment for depression this can assist by helping you feel better emotionally and can reduce pain. Depression can be a contributor to the discomfort of pain. If you also suffer from conditions like arthritis and migraines, depression can cause you to actually feel more pain. By receiving treatment it can help provide relief from this pain.

• Improve your health: Getting treatment when you are depressed may help prevent some serious diseases down the track. Depression and anxiety can have an impact on your body. A study has found that women had double the risk of sudden cardiac death when they suffered from depression compared to women who weren’t. Lessening the health risks is another benefit from treatment.

• Improve motivation and goal achievement: Treatment for depression can also include some work on our feeling of motivation and our sense of achievement and purpose. This sense of achievement and purpose can be very important for our sense of satisfaction with life and without it we can develop symptoms of depression. Therefore, addressing it also helps us reduce our symptoms of depression. This can be done through the use of Motivational Interviewing and SMART goal development.

What to Expect From Therapy Sessions

At Mind Mode Psychology in Wollongong, we offer Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Interpersonal skill development, Motivational Interviewing, Short term Solution Focused Therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy and Supportive Therapy.

We provide a variety of therapies that might help you to understand yourself, your own fog, your needs and your values to help you regain a sense of who you want to be and how to get there.

If you're reading this and saying, "yeah I totally get that," then let me give you a neon sign in the fog: WE ARE HERE TO HELP.

Get in touch with our local team today to make an appointment.