Handling depression with counselling and therapy
“When I woke up one day, I had a sense of emptiness. I thought it was a low mood day and tried to get along. The next day was just the same. I tried to discard yet again. It did not seem to fade away, I felt more and more empty. The coming days, I felt I had no purpose, no direction and nothing to look forward to. I started shrinking with sadness, negativity and loneliness. I wished to get out of this soon and I did not know how.”
Depression is very difficult. It is unknown gloominess that clouds your mind without a single warning. You hit your lowest of low times and you cannot find a way out so easily. You are afraid to share your feelings with anyone because you think they may not understand you. Sometimes it happens that depression is confused as sadness and we receive advices from people to think positive and everything will be ok, which can be hurtful and invalidating.
You are depressed if any of the below continues for more than two weeks
• You feel miserable most of the day
• You have difficulty falling asleep
• You think there is no need for you to live
• You feel like crying without knowing the exact reason
• Loss of interest in once pleasurable activities
• Unable to concentrate and make decisions
• Withdrawing to oneself without social interaction
• Loss of appetite
• Feeling worthless and disappointed
• Frequent mood swings
• Suicidal thoughts
If you find these symptoms or other similar ones are bothering you for more than two weeks, then you should straight away head towards a therapist for an immediate evaluation. Timely diagnosis and treatment of depression lifts you from the impending doom and allows you to recover.
What is the reason for depression?
It may be difficult to pinpoint the exact reason for depression. It may occur to anyone even when everything is going on well in their lives. The most recent example is of Deepika Padukone when she fell into depression at the peak of her career.
Some of the possible reasons could be:
Genetics: Family history of depression can increase the risk
Traumatic incident: Death of a family member, divorce, break up, accidents, loss of a job, financial problems may lead to depression
Personality Type: People with lower self-esteem and unhealthy coping strategies have a higher risk
Brain chemicals: Differences in the biochemistry of the brain can cause symptoms of depression
Why am I the only one in depression?
Being depressed makes you vulnerable to loneliness. That’s the fragile time when you think that your family and friends are not with you. The situation may look like you are alone sailing on the choppy waters while others are on the calm waters.
We can consider the example of a duck in the water. For outsiders, the duck looks to be smoothly gliding through the waters while in reality, the duck is paddling heavily beneath the water to find its way forward. Looking for others from our world, we think others are doing well while we are not.
Depression in India is common. About 50 million in India suffer from depression. These figures can help you to get a perspective that, you are not alone in this tough journey. There are a lot of them like you who are engulfed in their world of isolation. You have a bigger role to play in spreading awareness about depression by getting better with therapy & counselling. This way, you will improve the lives of many with the same problem.
Open doors to Therapy & Counselling to overcome depression
At Aware, therapy consists of Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), the latest evidence-based psychotherapy coming under the umbrella of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is practiced. Sindhu is an expert in treating depression with third-wave approaches in therapy and counselling.
The first step of therapy involves being empathetic and non-judgmental to your situation. This gives you a lot of space to open up and freely express your feelings with the therapist. Your troubles are extremely personal and hence it is purely confidential with our therapist. She will understand all your difficulties and gives you an exact assessment of your problems.
Knowing your problem and how exactly to tackle it, your therapist will offer you a number of strategies, exercises and practical tools and techniques which will make a huge difference to your current state of mind. Third-wave CBT approaches are popular for their experiential tools that make you get a hold on your troubles and slowly address them.
Describe more on ACT’s Therapy & Counselling for Depression
Take a look at the brief therapy approach to help you what to expect in your sessions:
Finding the root cause:
After the first step of evaluation, the therapist takes a couple of sessions to get to know you more and figure out your root cause for the depression. It may have come from the deep down which you may not be aware at all. Through psychotherapeutic approaches, your underlying reasons for depression will come out.
Setting goals:
You and the therapist will discuss what changes are important to you and which needs the highest priority. Based on your goals which is largely set by you, you and the therapist will plan on working towards your depression.
Learning experiential strategies:
These include several interesting tools and techniques which gives you a first-hand experience of how the strategies will work on you. Regularly, new tools are worked and the previous one is assessed. You will learn to implement them when you feel utmost depressed and understand how helpful they are in handling your depression.
Self-Acceptance:
After you have started implementing the strategies, you will find you have accepted yourself completely. You know what is important to you and you take actions based on that. This opens up a lot of new hope and a sense of self-discovery prevails. You would also have mastered to handle negative thoughts and feelings more effectively which will lead to making way for a better life.
A Sample Experiential Tool
For two minutes, close your eyes and breathe deeply. Now, slowly find out a place in your body where you feel the pain of depression. It could be your chest, stomach, legs or anywhere else. Once you have placed the pain point, make a circle around it.
Take another two deep breaths. Now, while you know there is a pain circle in your pain point try to focus on an object outside the window. Can you see the object, see its colour and shape? After noticing just think, if that pain circle caused you any trouble in seeing the object? Your answer will be no. So, that means you can allow your pain circle of depression inside you and still act on other things important to you.
Will Therapy & Counselling really help me?
You will need only a couple of sessions with your therapist to realize that, process-based CBT and ACT is an active form of therapy which turn out to be a powerful tools in your life. It is highly unlikely that you will not benefit from therapy and counselling at Aware.
Depression seems so intimidating that you may feel nothing can help to get you out of the blue. But, if you make the commitment to heal from depression, your major step towards recovery is taken. Rest assured, your victory over depression is certain.
How will I change after Depression Therapy & Counselling?
• A new ray of light in your life
• Getting back to the normalcy of your life
• Gaining back self-worth and self-esteem
• Improved connections with closed ones
• Attaining trust in life
• A positive outlook on life appears back
Looks like huge money is involved for Depression Therapy
At Aware, the belief is firm on making therapy affordable to everyone to improve the mental health of individuals in our country. Therapy charges are not exorbitantly expensive for you to miss a life-changing experience. Your investment for Therapy & Counselling for Depression at Aware Mental Health is a worthwhile and satisfying journey towards your life’s important goals.
What if I cannot attend sessions when I am away?
We live a life of busy bees. In this era, work and family call for a lot of travelling. Your therapist will be available to take distance sessions in your preferred medium like an online session or a telephonic session.
This way your depression therapy sessions are always consistent and do not give you a break in between. Maintaining good consistency plays a very big role in providing fruitful results to your existing problems.
Have more questions running in your mind?
You can shoot any questions to clarify your doubts to take up counselling by WhatsApping at +918660388394 or by emailing contact@awaremh.com
“My dark clouds have moved away. I can see the sunshine back in my life. I am willing and more than eager to experience life to the fullest.”
Take the next step
Call at +91 86603 88394 and we can set up a consultation.
If you would like to schedule an appointment instead, please click here:
Take the next step
Call at +91 86603 88394 and we can set up a consultation.
If you would like to schedule an appointment instead, please click here: