Dealing with Depression

Depression can sap you of all of your precious energy. It can make you forget that you ever felt good or different from this depressed feeling. Sadness is different from depression. 

Here are some of the signs of depression:

• a depressed mood during most of the day, particularly in the morning
• fatigue or loss of energy almost every day
• feelings of worthlessness or guilt almost every day
• impaired concentration, indecisiveness
• insomnia or hypersomnia (excessive sleeping) almost every day
• markedly diminished interest or pleasure in almost all activities nearly every day
• recurring thoughts of death or suicide (not just fearing death)
• a sense of restlessness -- known as psychomotor agitation -- or being slowed down -- retardation
• significant weight loss or gain (a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month)
  

The latest research on depression concludes that psychotherapy is an effective treatment.  

How Does Psychotherapy Help Depression?

Psychotherapy helps people with depression:

• Understand the behaviors, emotions, and ideas that contribute to his or her depression.
• Understand and identify the life problems or events -- like a major illness, a death in the family, a loss of a job or a divorce -- that contribute to their depression and help them understand which aspects of those problems they may be able to solve or improve.
• Regain a sense of control and pleasure in life.
• Learn coping techniques and problem-solving skills.

Some people may benefit from medication in conjunction with psychotherapy for their depression.

I work closely with an excellent psychiatrist when this is the case and the three of us form a treatment team to best address the depression.

During the process of therapy, I incorporate healthful ingredients such as exercise into the treatment plan.With the individual’s cooperation, the pieces of life that have been set aside during times of depression are examined for their usefulness and reintroduced to create a new, stronger fabric that will hold up in the hard times.