Feeling depressed or anxious? Therapy can help.
If you or your partner is feeling depressed or anxious you may feel a sense of helplessness. The person experiencing these feelings may not fully understand how their mood is impacting not only themselves but their relationship.
Together we can work through this difficult time, and I will guide you and your partner through these complex issues so you can get the most out of your life.
What is Depression and Anxiety?
Anxiety
Stress and anxiety are common responses to situations where we are not coping or feeling under pressure. Usually we are in control of these feelings and once the ‘stressor’ is removed then those uncomfortable feelings usually subside.
When these feelings don’t seem to go away and they begin to affect your daily life. It could possibly be a sign that your are suffering from an anxiety condition.
Anxiety is one of the most common mental health conditions in Australia. There are ways of managing this and finding support is the best way forward.
Depression
Symptoms of depression include persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, fatigue, anxiety, loss of interest in activities, and changes in sleep and appetite. When your mood is depressed, it can become hard to maintain a normal level of functioning in areas of your life such as work, school, and relationships.
Sometimes depression can result from a negative event, a major life-change, or a build-up of stress. Other times, it is not possible to pinpoint the reason for someone’s change in mood. Whatever the reason, if symptoms like these have persisted for two weeks of more, with little or no let-up, depression could be a diagnosis and it’s a good idea to seek help.
How do I know if I am depressed or have anxiety?
Have you noticed that you are struggling to function as a result of how you are feeling? What may start out as feeling sad, lonely or “down” can become overwhelming and chronic over time. There are some common symptoms that go beyond the garden variety “feeling blue”or feeling your are not able to cope and it is important to pay attention to these so you know when to seek help.
Below are a few questions that are intended to help you consider your personal situation more closely.
- Does it take great effort to do simple things?
- Do you feel fatigued often?
- Do you feel like a failure?
- Do you feel lifeless?
- Have you noticed changes in your sleeping patterns?
- Do you feel trapped?
- Do you feel depressed even when good things happen to me?
- Does your future seem hopeless?
- Is it hard for you concentrate on reading?
- Do you have difficulty making decisions?
- Have you lost interest in an aspect of your life that you used to find important?
How can counselling help?
Treatment for depression and anxiety can prevent symptoms from worsening and can shorten the period of time that you experience these feelings.
Counselling has been found to be most effective and have the longest lasting results in treating both anxiety and depression, either by itself or in conjunction with other treatment modalities. If you see a therapist for these types of issues, they will likely speak to you about some of the following topics:
- The root causes of issues to lessen the chances of future episodes
- Identifying thinking patterns, so that you can counter negative thoughts and think more realistically.
- Identifying things in your life that have helped keep your mood positive, and encouraging you to re-engage in healthy activities.
- Identifying methods to deal with behaviours that have been unhealthy for you, such as isolation or use of drugs or alcohol.
- Teaching healthy methods of handling negative thoughts, emotions, and stressors.
- Talking effectively with the people in your life about what you are experiencing.
- Identifying your personal circumstances and warning signs so you can recognize them earlier in the future
- Helping you create a plan to decrease the chances of issues worsening.
What to expect
When you are depressed and/or anxious you are held hostage by constant negative thoughts. These self-defeating thoughts may have a grain of truth, but they have become exaggerated and distorted to a point where you believe they are the entire truth.
In our sessions you will learn to recognise and correct these deeply held, but false negative, automatic thoughts and beliefs.
Making small changes in your thinking and behaviour every day will lead to lasting improvements in both mood and how you view your life going forward.
We will also aim to get to the roots of your issues, as there may be deeper, long held relational and family of origin issues that need to be resolved.
We also evaluate current lifestyle, and work with you to improve healthy habits such as better sleep, a balanced diet, increase of exercise, limiting alcohol and/or drug habits in conjunction with learning relaxation and visualization techniques.
Support can lessen your burden
Everyone feels down from time to time. If you are experiencing some of the symptoms mentioned, but feel unsupported, I encourage you to reach out for help, as having the additional burden of trying to deal with your symptoms alone will worsen your condition and possibly your relationship and other factors In your life. Book a free no obligation consult and let’s discuss how i could possibly help you.