I have a long history of experiencing severe bouts of depression and anxiety. These conditions often run in parallel and impact my life in ways that are difficult to overcome. I have learned from both my friends and family that a more holistic approach to living with these conditions is highly recommended. I have seen many patients, and even clients, turn to me for help with self-help and psychotherapy.
I have been in therapy since I was a teenager. I have learned that there is great value in talking about your problems and allowing people to help you work through them. But in the face of something as serious as depression, self-deprecation, or anxiety, you can’t help but feel a bit of shame.
I know it is hard to take a hard reality and turn it into a solution. It is really hard to say “I am depressed and I would like help.” It would be easier to say “I am depressed and I would like to spend a lot of time with my family.” But it is just as easy to say “I am depressed and I would like to use this to learn a new skill.
Depression and anxiety are two very different things which often have very different symptoms. And you may find that the two are very strongly related. This is especially true when one of these things runs in a family. And it’s easy to see how the effect can spread when the person you’re dealing with has a family history of depression or anxiety.
It’s much easier to say you’re depressed when there’s something you’re missing. Like a job or a family or a significant other. This is because depression is a very personal thing. We all have our own personal set of rules, and we all have our own set of triggers. The fact is that most of the time you can’t really tell if you’re depressed or not. So if you’re depressed, you can’t really tell.
The problem is that if youre depressed, youre thinking about your own depression. Youre thinking about your own problems, and it’s not like you can just leave them alone. It sounds very self-absorbed, but you can’t just ignore it. You really need to talk to someone about it.
One of the biggest issues with depression is that people don’t discuss it. They just “get it” and keep it in their subconscious. So when a depressed individual leaves a message on a wall, he leaves it on his own. He just doesn’t open it up to anyone else. He doesn’t want it to come to his attention, because he knows that it’s not true, and it doesn’t make any sense.
So, if you want to discuss feelings of depression, you have to talk to someone. Most people just do what they do with their friends and family and that helps them not to have to think about it.
The sad fact is that a significant chunk of the population lacks self-awareness. That is, they don’t know why they’re depressed. And they don’t know how to fix it. That leaves them with no hope of getting better, and no means to change that. In my work with the Department of Veterans Affairs, I’m often asked to speak at conferences and workshops.
Most VA healthcare patients are people over the age of 65, and we see a lot of these patients. Our goal is to help the people with disabilities that are at a much higher risk for suicide than the general population. That means helping them learn how to handle stressful situations without harming themselves in the process. In doing so, we are able to help them live a happier and healthier life.
