Depression
Counselling For Depression
There is much written on what depression is and what causes it. Rather than complicate matters for the reader I will try to give a simple understanding of what it really is.
Depression is a whole &body mind illness involving moods thoughts behaviours. It affects the way you think and feel about yourself and others. It affects the way you think rationally.
Severe thoughts of suicide, low self worth and value are common symptoms. It can last for hour’s, days and then simple vanish. It can last a lifetime, it takes away personal values around appearance, lowers energy & tolerance levels.
For the sufferer it is not a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be willed or wished for. It can be a struggle to come to terms with the symptoms and effects.
Well meaning, throw away remarks to those who suffer such as “Pull yourself together” and “get better” can often leave the sufferer feeling unheard and serve to worsen the feelings of self loathing and failure.
In many ways society is ignorant of its effects so rather than try and understand sufferers, the options to ignore their condition is often taken.
Symptoms of Depression
- Changes in sleeping and eating patterns
- Higher stress and lower tolerance levels causing in some cases severe anger/mood swings and frustration
- Inability to work or attend college or school’
- Mixing with people can become a mammoth task
- Involvement in sporting events can become an enormous task
- Preference to isolate from people and remain in bed
- Deep sadness/guilt all the time’
- Severe loss or gain in weight
- Loss of interest in life and enjoyment of events
- Suicidal Thoughts
- Heavy drinking and smoking
- Lack of concentration
- Inability to relax
Who Gets Depression?
Depression does not respect class, profession, age, race, economic stature or social standing. Depression can and does infiltrate and cast its dark shadow over all sorts of individuals and professions. Often people will ide the fact that they may be suffering from depression, because of the stigma associated with the illness, and suffer in silence.
What Causes Depression?
The causes of depression of depression are many and varied. In the current climate where doom and gloom are everywhere we look either in the TV or papers it can be hard not to be depressed. There are many causes for depression from the recession to a bereavement of family member or friend. A break up in a relationship to loss of a job home. To low self esteem comparing self to others. Illness.
Does Counselling Help?
The first question people who enquire about counselling for Depression always ask is the above. Does it help? It would be unfair of me to tell anything but the truth and the answer is YES.
However, it doesn’t offer a quick fix. Counselling offers a safe, confidential place to talk about what is going on in your life. Counselling helps look for and seeks out what triggers the Depression while medication offers a stabilisation of the effects while dealing with the symptoms.
Without either, the depression will get worse and last for longer periods. Appropriate help will lessen the effects. Counselling offers a confidential, safe place to look at what the causes could be for the individual. It offers a support and insight to the sufferer and helps with greater coping skills.
How Counselling Can Help?
Counselling helps the sufferer look at other issues around confidence self esteem, which can help to lessen the effects of depression. Counselling helps removes the stigma, silence and shame around the word Depression.
Depression removes the ability to look forward in a positive way to living your every day life. It spreads darkness in all areas of life. Counselling reignites this ability to look forward. Where the darkness once dominated, new light brightens. Often for the first time in the life of the sufferer there is no fear around this darkness and what it has hidden, which may have been the food for the Depression.
Counselling offers a richness to the individual which is unique and helps discover strengths which once where discounted.
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