How can psychotherapy help you with depression?
Whether your depression needs only partial lifestyle changes, a transition to a more well-established way of thinking or a trip to the depths of your personality, it is important to mention that it is one of the most treatable mental illnesses.
What are the symptoms of depression?
Depression is a disease belonging to a group called mood disorders. The most common manifestations are deteriorating mood, fatigue, and loss of interest in things we used to enjoy, lasting a period of at least 2 weeks. Depression is also accompanied by difficulty sleeping, changes in body weight, changes in appetite, and thoughts of self-blame or despair.
What is the difference between depression and a bad mood?
Bad mood is a natural part of a healthy person’s psyche. But if you feel that it takes an unusually long time and it settles in your life at the expense of its quality, then these may be the first signs of depression. At this stage, a conversation with a therapist can bring welcome relief and help you find your way more easily in a difficult situation.
How do I know I’m suffering from depression?
Reliable diagnostics are always performed by an expert, most often a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist, but also by a general practitioner. Based on psychological tests and an interview, the expert then determines the diagnosis and discusses the appropriate treatment with the patient. This is especially true for more severe forms of depression. In case of mild difficulties, the therapist can also help in a counseling interview.
How to treat depression? Can I help myself?
Depression is most often treated with medication (usually antidepressants), psychotherapy or a combination of both. If you feel the first signs of depression and are looking for ways to relieve the symptoms until you have the opportunity to visit a specialist, we recommend trying…
1. Adjust the day mode and sleep mode
Establish a regular regimen that you may take some time to adjust to, but will ultimately have a positive effect on the hormonal levels co-responsible for depressive states.
2. Confide yourself to a loved one.
An intimate conversation can allow you to get rid of a depressing feeling of loneliness, the other person will give you, in addition to support, a space to settle thoughts that seem to be unbearable in the silence of your own mind. A similar service will be provided by an online therapist, who may be available to you almost immediately. In addition, you will connect with an expert who specializes directly in these specific mental problems.
3. Try a pleasant kind of movement, relaxation or massage
Just as the mind affects the body, so too does the body affect the mind. By pleasantly stimulating your senses, you will also relieve the mental tension that accompanies depression. On the Internet you will find a number of guided relaxations or autogenous trainings, or you can treat yourself to an aromatherapy or another easy physical activity.
What is a postpartum depression?
Depression can also be experienced by women who have recently given birth, even those who have previously felt mentally balanced and did not suffer from significant mood swings. One possible cause turns out to be an altered level of sex hormones, from the estrogen group. Estrogen drops sharply after delivery and its levels continue to fluctuate during the subsequent period of breastfeeding. The interaction thus increases the risk of depressive states at the level of biochemical processes.
Other triggers include disturbance of the circadian rhythm and sleep in general. During this period, women suddenly lose regular sleep and their entire daily routine changes, which is subordinated to the needs of the baby. There is also social isolation, which can be stressful for many women. At the psychological level, depression often supports learned ways of thinking, so-called cognitive patterns, one of which may be, the belief that asking for help is a manifestation of weakness. An inconspicuous sentence occuring in the subconscious can drive a woman to the brink of mental and physical exhaustion.
The real story of a client with depression and how psychotherapy helped with that
“Every spring I feel the same, exhausted and as if lifeless. It usually helps to get a lot of sleep, peace and solitude. But somehow it wasn’t enough this year. Weeks were running out and I felt worse rather than better. Gradually, I began to have trouble getting out of the apartment or forcing myself to work, I went shopping only in the most urgent cases, but the worst thing was to pretend to my own family that everything was fine. It occurred to me once that I couldn’t keep living like this. Thank you for the possibility of online psychotherapy, because it would definitely be much harder for me to overcome myself and go out. In therapy, I managed to reveal one fundamental thing – I have filled my life with a lot of responsibilities, which no longer bring me joy or meaning. During that time, I have reconsidered a number of things, and even though there is still some work to do, I finally feel energy and zest for life again after a long time. “
Thinking about psychotherapy?
In that case it is worth a try
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