Understanding depression
Ups and downs are, to a certain extent, expected as a normal part of life. But if you feel more “downs” than “ups,” especially if you find less pleasure from activities that you usually enjoy and feel less motivation to work on trying to improve your life, you might have clinical depression.
Clinical depression is a potentially serious mental illness, which can greatly affect your capacity to function effectively at work and home, and impact your quality of life and relationships.
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What are the signs and symptoms of depression?
Some common symptoms of clinical depression include:
- Feeling sad, low moods, and weepy for at least 2 weeks
- Feeling tired and having low energy a lot of the time
- Sleeping too much or too little
- Noticeable changes in appetite and reduced desire to eat healthy food
- Reduced motivation, even for simple everyday tasks
- Avoiding social interactions
- Deriving less pleasure from activities you usually enjoy
- Having difficulty liking yourself, losing your zest for life
- Friends/family commenting about a change in your behavior
- Difficulty functioning effectively at home, school, work, and in relationships and parenting
- Feeling disinterested in life; cases of more severe depression can also include thoughts about suicide
Why is it important to get help for depression?
Depression is a serious disorder that can have major ramifications on your long-term well-being, professional success, and fulfillment in your interpersonal relationships and family life. In the short term, depression saps you of your enjoyment of life, which is unlikely to improve on its own.
Left untreated, depression can have far more serious effects down the line: Long-term depression is linked to chronic fatigue, weakened immune function, chronic health conditions, and difficulty developing and maintaining close meaningful relationships.
Treatment for depression is highly effective and widely available
In most cases, therapy can help you learn new skills and strategies that can help you make tangible progress in your life. For example, by using a holistic approach to wellness (such as by using meditation and exercise to harness a body-mind approach), you can even become a much healthier version of yourself than you were even before you first noticed symptoms of depression.
In certain cases of more severe depression, it can sometimes be helpful to use antidepressant medication alongside skilled professional therapy, although the goal of any effective therapy should be to reduce what causes your depression in the first place, by building your inner resources and working towards finding meaning in your life by engaging your life purpose.
Put another way, using a solutions-driven treatment enhances your life and helps you work towards finding your life’s purpose in a very real and meaningful way.
Reach out for help today
I have experience helping clients work through their challenges and reach their goals so they can live a more fulfilling life. If you or a loved one have been struggling with depression, reach out today to schedule your free consultation.