Depression: Life can truly be difficult
Few of us make it to our mature adulthood without facing painful and challenging situations in our lives, and as we age, we may face even more:
We lose loved ones.
We experience difficult transitions.
We experience pain and new physical challenges.
Our beloved children (and grandchildren?) move away.
The activities we have always enjoyed tend to drop out of our lives
This list can obviously go on... and every person's experiences are unique. But what all of these situations have in common is that they can trigger Depression: A very understandable reaction to truly painful situations in our lives.
The trouble is, Depression can be sneaky... Of course, we expect to feel sad, or even lonely, when a loved one passes, or our beloved grandchildren move to the other side of the country, or we retire from the career to which we have devoted years of our lives -- this is natural, after all.
But most people don't think of Depression as a possible cause when they are having trouble concentrating, feeling too grumpy or grouchy to spend time with others, don't seem to have much energy, forget to eat meals, or aren't sleeping well. Most people don't think of Depression when they seem more hungry than usual, find themselves sleeping through half of the day, feel angry for no good reason, are more often anxious for no good reason, or feel so restless they can't sit still. While all of these uncomfortable feelings and tendencies can have various causes, any of them can also be due to Depression. Most importantly:
Thoughts of self-harm are a clear and urgent sign that you are battling Depression.
Seek support NOW!! Go to the nearest emergency room, see your therapist or doctor, or call 988 for help.
Also, untreated Depression can eventually cause problems with attention and memory that can begin to look and act like the beginnings of dementia, and this is yet another "call to action": Depression is treatable!
For many years, it has been known that both medication and therapy can help, and these two treatments in combination can often help even more. Ask for assessment, to find out whether depression may be causing some of the difficulties you are experiencing. Seek out a therapist that understands and works with the types of challenges you may be facing, that (through no fault of your own) "set you up" for developing depression. This might be chronic pain, challenging medical conditions, grief over the loss of loved ones, retirement, difficult changes in your living situation, or many other life situations.
You don't have to manage alone! Ask your doctor's office for help, and seek out a therapist who can provide support!
The Psychology Today "Find a Therapist" website can help (click below) :
Few of us make it to our mature adulthood without facing painful and challenging situations in our lives, and as we age, we may face even more:
We lose loved ones.
We experience difficult transitions.
We experience pain and new physical challenges.
Our beloved children (and grandchildren?) move away.
The activities we have always enjoyed tend to drop out of our lives
This list can obviously go on... and every person's experiences are unique. But what all of these situations have in common is that they can trigger Depression: A very understandable reaction to truly painful situations in our lives.
The trouble is, Depression can be sneaky... Of course, we expect to feel sad, or even lonely, when a loved one passes, or our beloved grandchildren move to the other side of the country, or we retire from the career to which we have devoted years of our lives -- this is natural, after all.
But most people don't think of Depression as a possible cause when they are having trouble concentrating, feeling too grumpy or grouchy to spend time with others, don't seem to have much energy, forget to eat meals, or aren't sleeping well. Most people don't think of Depression when they seem more hungry than usual, find themselves sleeping through half of the day, feel angry for no good reason, are more often anxious for no good reason, or feel so restless they can't sit still. While all of these uncomfortable feelings and tendencies can have various causes, any of them can also be due to Depression. Most importantly:
Thoughts of self-harm are a clear and urgent sign that you are battling Depression.
Seek support NOW!! Go to the nearest emergency room, see your therapist or doctor, or call 988 for help.
Also, untreated Depression can eventually cause problems with attention and memory that can begin to look and act like the beginnings of dementia, and this is yet another "call to action": Depression is treatable!
For many years, it has been known that both medication and therapy can help, and these two treatments in combination can often help even more. Ask for assessment, to find out whether depression may be causing some of the difficulties you are experiencing. Seek out a therapist that understands and works with the types of challenges you may be facing, that (through no fault of your own) "set you up" for developing depression. This might be chronic pain, challenging medical conditions, grief over the loss of loved ones, retirement, difficult changes in your living situation, or many other life situations.
You don't have to manage alone! Ask your doctor's office for help, and seek out a therapist who can provide support!
The Psychology Today "Find a Therapist" website can help (click below) :