Signs and Symptoms of Depression and When You Need Therapy
If you’ve been dealing with symptoms of depression for a while, it’s probably going to stay the same or get worse unless you get counseling. Depression is not the same as occasionally feeling down in the dumps, sad, or “blue.”
The signs and symptoms of depression are very different and it’s not something that tends to go away on its own. Depression is not something you can just pull yourself out of. You may feel like you are constantly chasing happiness, on edge, or screaming for help. You may believe that things are always your fault and feel lonely, broken, and stuck.
Some other signs of depression include:
- feeling down most of the time
- not enjoying things you once enjoyed or not having an interest in things
- having problems sleeping or sleeping too much
- feeling really run down all the time, like you just don’t have any energy or feel really restless so that it’s hard for you to sit still
- having problems concentrating and remembering things
- feeling worthless, hopeless, helpless
- feeling bad about yourself
- having thoughts of dying or of killing yourself
- Therapy for depression can ease the darkness, sadness, and loneliness
Depression is scary and lonely
It’s scary for you and for others. You may wonder if you’ll ever feel like yourself again. You may or may not know what started it. Maybe it was the loss of your job, the death of a loved one, a health crisis, a move, having a child, a divorce, or some other life transition. Maybe you don’t what brought it on…you just know that your sense of who you are, your self-esteem, and your hope have plummeted. The symptoms of depression are complex and how these symptoms show up in you has to do with your genetics, chemical, biological, psychological, social, and lifestyle factors.
Tulsa Counseling For Depression
Psychotherapy, especially Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) has been shown to be effective in helping people with depression feel better and return to their previous lives. Through therapy, you’ll begin to understand what contributes to your depression. You’ll learn specific strategies to understand why you think the things you do, and why it can be so hard to change those thoughts on your own. Through counseling, you can learn to think differently about yourself, others, and the world.
What We Will Work on During Therapy for Depression
- Listening. Many people who have signs of depression don’t have anyone in their lives who actually listens to their struggles, fears, and sadness. Having a person actively listen to you can feel really good and powerful, and be the catalyst for the other strategies listed below.
- Pinpointing life problems that add to your depression and beginning to solve the problems that can be solved. If problems can’t be solved, you’ll learn strategies to handle the thoughts and feelings about those situations more lightly.
- Identifying realistic goals for the future and learning how you have overcome difficult feelings or situations in the past.
- Recognizing and thinking differently about things that contribute to feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.
- Learning how to get unhooked from dark and anxious thoughts that are hard for you to change.
- Including friends or family members (if you choose) to help them understand what you are working on and ways they can support you.
- Developing ways to relieve and prevent depression in the future by strengthening your social network, developing new ways to cope with challenges, and creating a plan to care for yourself that involves healthy lifestyle choices.
- Working with your psychiatrist or primary care physician to ensure that any medications you are on for depression are working correctly, and getting off medications when you no longer need them.
If you think you are struggling with depression and are ready to get help so that you can feel hope, joy, peace, and connection again, call Christi, our intake coordinator, at 918-505-4367 to schedule your appointment with a mental health provider at Legacy Counseling Service in Broken Arrow.
