Do you ever feel down, hopeless or depressed? You are not alone. Depression affects many people in various ways. But the good news is that there are solutions to help you overcome this challenge. In this post, we’ll discuss what depression is, how to recognize it and what steps you can take to overcome it.
What Is Depression As Used in Guidance and Counselling?
Depression is one of the most common mood disorders. Those who suffer from depression can have emotional symptoms such as periods of prolonged sadness and physical symptoms such as digestive issues. To be diagnosed with depression a medical doctor will access the prevalence of the following 9 symptoms occurring for at least two weeks:
- Depressed mood.
- Loss of interest or pleasure in almost all activities.
- Significant unintentional weight loss/gain or decrease/increase in appetite.
- Sleep disturbance (insomnia or hypersomnia).
- Psychomotor changes (increase in purposeless activity or slowed movements).
- Tiredness, fatigue, low energy, or decreased efficiency with which routine tasks are completed.
- A sense of worthlessness or excessive, inappropriate, or delusional guilt.
- Impaired ability to think, concentrate, or make decisions.
- Recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), suicidal ideation, or suicide attempts.
The above symptoms must be impacting daily functioning for a diagnosis of depression to occur.
What Is the Main Role of Counselling?
Counselling is one way of managing depression. Other methods include but are not limited to, medication, self-help or brain-stimulated therapies. Counselling, or psychotherapy can help someone with depression to cope with their thoughts or change their ways of behaving.
One of the therapies a therapist might use in working through your depression is Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). CBT helps in treating depression by breaking down distortions or negative thinking patterns and restructuring them into more positive thoughts.
Is Depression the Same As Sadness?
Depression is different from sadness. Depression is a prolonged period of sadness which can cause distress in social, occupational or physiological ways. While sadness may be brought on by a specific incident such as a bad grade on a test, or not getting a job you wanted, depression does not need any such trigger to be brought on.
In a person with depression, everything in life may be seemingly going well, but the individual still feels hopeless or down. With sadness, you may feel better after watching your favourite show. A person with depression may no longer find happiness in watching their favourite show.
What Are the Risk Factors for Depression?
Depression can affect anyone, anywhere, at any time. However, certain predisposing factors can make an individual more susceptible to depression. One of those risk factors is genetics. If an individual in your family has depression, chances are likely that you may also have the condition.
Your biochemistry and hormones may also contribute to triggering depression such as postpartum. Changes in the hormones or neurotransmitters occurring in the brain play a role in depression maintenance as well. Environmental factors can also be risk factors such as poverty or abuse.
Conclusion
Mississauga’s Body Science Therapy offers effective treatment plans for a wide range of mental health issues including severe depression.
We’ve seen firsthand the amazing results that our clients achieve with the help of our clinic. From being able to go back to work to improving overall negative thought patterns, our clients have transformed their lives with the support of a psychotherapist. Don’t wait any longer to experience these changes for yourself. Book your appointment now.
References:
psycom.net/depression/major-depressive-disorder/dsm-5-depression-criteria
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519712/table/ch3.t5/
psychiatry.org/patients-families/depression/what-is-depression
mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/symptoms-causes/syc-20356007
