Am I Depressed?

Have you ever been in a crowded room, yet still felt alone? Your mood is an overall state of sadness and maybe you even feel like you are low on energy, as if everything you do is exhausting. In addition to fatigue and depressed mood, symptoms might also include weight loss or weight gain, a lack of pleasure in activities, an increase or severe decline of the ability to sleep, moving very slowly, feelings of worthlessness or inappropriate guilt, decreased concentration, and even thoughts of dying or hurting yourself in some way. While these feelings can occur to anyone over the life span, a combination of these persisting for more than two weeks likely means that you are experiencing depression. As fictional character Atticus Finch stated in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, “Depression is being colorblind and constantly told how colorful the world is”. Experiencing the world this way causes a general sense of negative emotions such as fear, sadness, and can even lead to anger or resentment. Feeling this way is painful, isolating, and can even cause a loss of interest in things you really used to enjoy. Depression can cause you to become a shell of the person you once were. Depression is more common than you think, effecting 1 out of every 10 adults (Mind and Modd, 2021). Despite how helpless, guilty, or lonely you feel: there is hope.

When depressed, it is easy to find yourself clinging to an inaccurate representation of your capabilities and the way others’ perceive you. In order to avoid falling into this trap of believing an irrational thought, challenging the thought you are having that is causing distress. This is simply done by identifying the thought, emotion, and disputing the thought with evidence. For instance, you might have the thought “I’m so stupid” for making the mistake of spilling a glass of water. Once the thought causes you to feel distress, stop and evaluate if the thought is factual and supply evidence. An example might be, “Spilling water does not demonstrate my intelligence level, nor is it a reflection of my intellectual capabilities. Besides, plenty of people spill water and I would never think of them as stupid for making that mistake”.

Besides thought challenging, another coping skill is exercise. According to Harvard assistant professor Dr. Michael Miller, exercise can be as advantageous as an antidepressant (Mind and Modd, 2021). Other coping techniques to aid in your battle with depression include getting in a better routine, focusing on sleep hygiene, and centering yourself by having a concrete reason to keep fighting the fatigue. Being around people will also reduce isolation and some of the lonely feelings you might be experiencing.

Depression is more common than you might think, let’s talk about it. Coming to Greenway Therapy to talk to me or another mental health professional can help you understand more about how depression might be affecting you and ways to continue fighting against the negative symptoms. The world is worth being seen in color and beauty and for all it has to offer, start your journey to find the things that keep you motivated and fulfilled today.