Depression
Depression is a serious medical illness that affects not only your enjoyment of life, work, and school but the lives of family and friends around you. In contrast to the normal emotional experiences of sadness, loss, or passing mood states, clinical depression is persistent and can interfere significantly with an individual’s ability to function.
Symptoms of depression include sad mood, loss of interest or pleasure in activities that were once enjoyed, change in appetite or weight, difficulty sleeping or oversleeping, physical slowing or agitation, energy loss, feelings of worthlessness or inappropriate guilt, difficulty thinking or concentrating, and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.
Many people still believe that the emotional symptoms caused by depression are “not real,” and that a person should be able to shake off the symptoms if only he or she were trying hard enough. Because of these inaccurate beliefs, people with depression either may not recognize that they have a treatable disorder or may be discouraged from seeking or staying on treatment because of feelings of shame and stigma. Too often, untreated or inadequately treated depression leads to suicide.
How can therapy help?
My approach can vary and can include various therapeutic approaches to guide you to make yourself feel better.
- What we do. (Behavioral therapy)
- How we think about things. (Cognitive therapy)
- How we relate to others. (Interpersonal therapy)
- How things are going to be better in the future. (Solution focused therapy)
- Getting our basic emotional needs met
- Helping you find solutions to your immediate problems
Other resources on depression
National Institute of Mental Health
Harvard Health
National Suicide Prevention Hotline
