Services
Depression Counselling & Psychotherapy
What is it?
I have worked with many clients who have experienced depression in their lives. As with all physical illnesses there are different levels and extremes of depression. These have been categorized for us by the medical profession (1) where symptoms are outlined in very specific detail
.jpg) | Depression is more than just having a bad day, it negatively impacts on how you are functioning in the world, how you relate, how you behave, think and see things. An episode of depression may be triggered by many things such as relationship problems, bereavement, redundancy, illness, etc. For many it is a mixture of the two. |
There is little doubt that experiencing depression is a lonely and frightening place to be.
What are the symptoms?
The following is a list of common symptoms of depression. It is unusual to have them all, but several usually develop if you have depression.
- Low mood for most of the day, nearly every day. Things always seem 'black'.
- Loss of enjoyment and interest in life, even for activities that you normally enjoy.
- Abnormal sadness, often with weepiness.
- Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or uselessness.
- Poor motivation. Even simple tasks seem difficult.
- Poor concentration.
- Sleeping problems.
- Lacking in energy, always tired.
- Difficulty with affection, including going off sex.
- Poor appetite and weight loss. Sometimes the reverse happens with comfort eating and weight gain.
- Irritability, agitation, or restlessness.
- Symptoms often seem worse first thing each day.
- Physical symptoms such as headaches, palpitations, chest pains, and general aches.
- Recurrent thoughts of death. This is not usually a fear of death, more a preoccupation with death and dying. Some people get suicidal ideas such as "life's not worth living".
What helps?
Depending on the type, cause and severity of the depression different approaches may work. To give you some examples, for some, negative thinking patterns are causing the depression. In these cases Cognitive Behavioural Therapy could help in altering thought and behaviour patterns.
For others depression is really grief for a loved one that has not been resolved, in those cases working through the grief may help to lift the depression. In other cases, depression may be more deeply rooted to other experiences in the past e.g. abuse, neglect, early childhood experiences that have been hidden and locked away. In such cases the approach is very gentle and slow to ensure that any remembering and recovering from the past is done within the safety of the therapy room and at a pace that suits you at all times.
For more information on depression, its causes and symptoms, please refer to the following web pages:-
* www.aware.ie
* www.samaritans.ie
* www.mentalhealthireland.ie
* www.grow.ie
* www.citzensinformation.ie
1 - Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – American Psychiatric Association