What is Depression?

.Depression is an often misunderstood illness and some people think it is the same as sadness. However, it is an illness just like high blood pressure, heart disease, or cancer. While the symptoms of depression are often thought of as mental or emotional, they also impact physical health. On brain scans the brains of people with depression look different than those without depression.

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How do you know if you are depressed?
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Some common symptoms of depression are:

• Lack of interest in things you used to enjoy
• Difficulty sleeping or sleeping  more than usual
• Intense feelings of hopelessness
• Difficulty focusing on tasks
• Physical aches and pains
• Being easily triggered to irritability, anger, or sadness
• Bouts of tearfulness over small issues
• Thoughts of suicide
  
  

Not everyone with depression has all of these symptoms and it manifests differently at different ages. For example, adolescents with depression will often be more irritable than adults who suffer from this illness.

How we can address your depression together

The good news is that there are many effective ways to treat depression!
In therapy sessions we can work together to find ways to address the symptoms that are troubling you and help you get back to enjoying your life again. I can also teach you strategies that you can do outside of therapy which can help you take control of your own health and improve your mood.  Things such as stress management, mindfulness activities, exercise and improving your social support network can all help improve symptoms of depression.
You are not alone. Many people have suffered with depression and gotten better. I want to applaud you for taking the first step towards getting better by looking into getting help.