Depression

Have you ever tried to run when you were waist deep in the ocean or the pool? You’re churning through water, pushing as hard as you can, while feeling like you aren’t even moving — this may be how you feel every day if you are depressed. The physical act of moving is harder — it’s hard to get up, hard to sit down, and you can forget about the pool. All you want to do is be alone in a dark room — even the sunlight hurts.

Depression, more than anything, is something you feel. It is like a cacoon of bad feelings that is totally absorbing. This is why, when experiencing depression, it can be so easy to feel hopeless — there’s nothing that can be done; there’s no way out.

Depression is more than a reaction to something bad that has happened. It  is a pattern of bad feelings caused not just by external factors, but also internal factors — our thoughts, behavaiors, and emotions.

Depression causes a negative cycle. When you feel bad, you think bad, and that causes you to feel worse.

Depression, as much as it is a matter of feeling, is also a matter of the mind. Thoughts and feelings are deeply connected, and this is where therapy comes in. You can break the cycle of depression by willfully stripping your mind of negative thoughts and putting positive ones in their place. It’s like sticking a wrench in the gears. At first it will feel unnatural — especially if you’ve been feeling bad for awhile — but if you stick with it, and keep disrupting that negative cycle, you will begin to create a new cycle, forged by your own will. And eventually, you will reach the critical threshold where you lift yourself into a positive cycle — your good feelings lead to good thoughts, which lead to more good feeling. Isn’t that where everyone wants to be?

It may seem far-fetched now, but you can get there. Research supports it. Change is hardest at first — making that initial push isn’t easy — but that’s why my profession exists. I am here to help.

Want to learn more? Take a look at symptoms of depression for Adults and Children here.

Want to learn more about my approach to therapy? Check out my approach to therapy page.