How do you feel depressed or anxious?
Over the past 20 years of my counseling career, I have heard
many patient accounts of how living with these two mental health diagnoses
looks. Depression with its clinical symptoms of low motivation, low mood,
frequent despair, tears, difficulties sleeping, eating and facing the day can
feel stuck in real emotional sands. One patient likened his experience to
depression to being trapped inside a black box, unable to find the lid and see
the light outside. Another reflected on the feeling of being trapped under the
thick cover of emotional fog that separated him from anything and anyone who
gave him joy.
On the other hand, anxiety can feel trapped in a
life-threatening situation, every moment, every day. The simple activities of
going to work, seeing friends or facing countless everyday experiences can lead
to a fast heart attack and a high sense of impending doom. He compared a
patient to living with a widespread sense of awe, and that something was about
to be terribly wrong. Her mind was like a relentless security guard, always
examining the environment for a potential threat. Her voice was strongly
seductive, and encouraged her to undo anything that might threaten him with
exhaustion.
What can I do to feel better?
Self-care with depression or anxiety is essential to
healing. While the role of the drug is often of paramount importance in the
journey of treatment, the development of a mentality also includes playing an
active role in caring for ourselves. Integrating healthy coping behaviors is a
necessary element in elevating mood and managing the very attractive nature of
these disorders.
Mary was a 49-year-old woman, and I was pleased to work with
her as she steadily ascended from a dark pit of depression. We worked closely
for six months to explore what led to depression and identify practical and
useful strategies that she could use to manage her mood. At our last session,
we explored the many changes she had made, which enabled her to ease the
constant grip of depression he suffered after a series of life crises that left
her feeling flattened. In the midst of the many things that we discussed that
day, some of the things I said with me remained of the importance they revealed
about the role of self-care and depression.
OUR SERVICES
Anxiety management with self-care
Anxiety is a complex monster. It appears quite differently
from depression.While depression often creates a sense of inner, anxiety
creates a sense of fear. Our anxious minds can be very adept at examining the
environment for a threat, causing concern to become a total fear. Often, the
enthusiastic mind resembles me as a best friend, whispering messages that fill
you with suspicion and encouraging you to withdraw from everything that
contains any element of the unknown.
In treatment, a critical component of treatment is the
management of avoidance. Anxiety likes to convince its victims to avoid
anything that makes them anxious. Initially when you avoid a threatening or
stressful situation, anxiety decreases. It feels better at first to avoid.
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