Many people struggle with depression. It can be difficult and sometimes harmful to try to diagnosis your own thoughts and feelings. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, please reach out to your doctor or therapist to help better understand what is going on. There are many ways to help someone who may be feeling depressed and for many it may be best to use a combination of tools and therapies.
If someone is struggling with being depressed, they may only have a couple of these symptoms or possibly most of them. How a person is feeling is unique to every person.
Some physical symptoms can be:
- Having trouble falling asleep or waking up during the night
- Wanting to sleep all the time
- Feeling tired and having a lack of energy, so even small tasks take extra effort
- Not feeling hungry or focusing on eating
- Unplanned weight loss
- increased cravings for food, increased eating, and weight gain
- Struggling with feeling anxious
- Feeling agitated where things are bothering you that normally would not
- Being restless
- Being slower in your thinking like it is taking longer to understand something
- Noticing that your normal speaking pace is slower like you are needing to work harder to say something
- Your body movements are slower.
- Trouble thinking and concentrating on a task
- Making decisions seem much harder
- Having trouble remembering things
- Unexplained physical problems, such as back pain or headaches
Some emotional symptoms can be:
- Feelings of sadness and maybe not knowing why
- Feeling tearful when normally you are not
- Feeling a sense of emptiness
- Feeling hopeless
- Experiencing angry outbursts and not being able to control your words
- Feeling irritable over small matters
- A loss of interest or pleasure in most or all normal activities, hobbies, or sports
- Feelings of worthlessness or guilt
- Fixating on past failures
- Blaming yourself for all that is you think is wrong
- Frequent or recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts or suicide
Possible Causes for Depression.
There is no exact reason one person will struggle with depression. As scientists research more about depression, they have determined there can be a couple of possible avenues to research when trying to better understand depression:
Brain Changes.
People who struggle with depression can have physical changes in their brains. Scientists are still researching the importance and impact of these changes.
Brain Neurotransmitters.
A brain’s neurotransmitters or the chemicals in our brain play a role in how our brains functions and how our bodies regulate mood and emotions. If there is an issue with the neurotransmitters, then that could explain some of why someone would struggle with depression.
Hormones.
Hormones can play a large part in how our bodies adjust and react to experiences. If there is an imbalance then the reaction can be negative and make it harder for us to adjust and deal with change, circumstances, and experiences.
Genetics.
There is research going on currently to determine if there is any genetic component to depression. If a blood relative struggles with depression will that make another relative more susceptible to also struggling? Currently, we do not know the answer to those questions but hopefully will soon.
Tools and Treatments.
While it may be a while before we have answers as to what might make a person more at risk for experiencing depression, there are many things that our therapists can help with today that will help to equip clients to better understand their depression and manage it. A couple of those tools and treatments are:
Understand.
Our therapists with your help can bring a better understand of how depression is affecting your life. This is understanding can include how depression may be affecting your body, your mind, and your life. They use many tools when working in these areas such an understanding the physical cues our body is telling us, journaling how we feel, and how we want to live our lives.
Determining Triggers.
Working together with your therapist, you can learn what triggers your feelings of depression. Once you know your triggers then you can work on how to manage them. Knowing what to look for and how to immediately identify and have a plan of action for the triggers allows you to be more in charge of your symptoms.
Create Goals.
Goals are critical to start moving forward to the life you want. Setting goals is a way to make those small, needed steps to change. Your therapist will help you to identify areas that you can start to change. Once you begin to work on those area, your therapist will be there to encourage you and provide accountability.
Our goal at Upstate Restorative Counseling is to help our clients move forward in the lives they want. We are here to help our clients better understand what they are struggling with and to provide tools and therapy that help them to move forward in the life. If you would like to talk to one of our therapists, please give us call. Here is more information on our practice https://upstaterestorativecounseling.com/depression/