We all feel sad or “blue” on occasion and can get upset when we encounter difficult life experiences such as when we lose a job or when there is a death in the family. Often these feelings diminish over time and do not have long-term effects on your day to day functioning.
Depression occurs when feelings of sadness and despair becoming overwhelming and start to interfere with daily activities. When individuals are depressed they can also feel a sense of hopelessness and helplessness and sometimes this may lead to thoughts of suicide. Depression can have an effect on a person’s ability to work, study, interact with people or take care of themselves. This can result in withdrawal from everyday activities as well as from connecting with friends and family.
People experience depression in different ways and this includes emotionally, behaviourally as well as physiologically. Depression can also be difficult to recognize and it can sometimes be expressed in the form of drug and/or alcohol abuse, aggression and other forms of risk-taking behaviours.
How can counselling help?
Depression can be successfully treated with psychotherapy. Through counselling individuals are given the opportunity to look at the factors contributing to their depression and learn effective coping mechanisms and strategies in order to deal with and overcome their life struggles. Some methods may include identifying negative or distorted thought patterns which may contribute to feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. The goal with counselling is to get individuals to a place where they can gain control over their lives and once again feel a sense of pleasure in their life activities day in and day out.
