Depression
Depression is a serious emotional, biological disease that affects one’s thoughts, feelings, behaviors, mood and physical health. Depression is more than just feeling sad or going through a rough patch. It’s a serious mental health condition that requires understanding, treatment and a good recovery plan. It takes a lot of work and willingness to seriously push harder than oftentimes feels possible, but with the knowledge that this push will lead to vitality and joy it becomes a goal that is worth the work. With early detection, diagnosis and a treatment plan consisting of medication (if needed,) therapy and lifestyle choices, many people get better and live meaningful lives filled with love and laughter.
Take depression seriously and understand there is help available. There are tools to navigate the symptoms and negative consequences that oftentimes plague a depressed individual. Please get help if this is you, or absolutely do your best to encourage and support your loved one in getting help. Left untreated, depression can be devastating both for the people who have it and for their loved ones. Some people only have one episode in their lifetime, but for most people, depression recurs. People with severe depression can feel so hopeless that they are at risk for suicide. This is preventable!
There are many causes of depression and there are many treatments; some are universal and some are unique to personal experience. I help my clients strengthen and heal by educating them about the disease, teaching effective coping skills, encouraging lifestyle change if necessary, addressing any family system dysfunction needed, and by teaching the importance of holistic health – working on all levels of a person, including spiritual, physical, emotional, intellectual, financial, societal, and familial. Developing and balancing all these parts of ourselves is essential. I’ve witnessed the change that comes with time and energy focused on healing – it’s why I can keep doing heavy work after so many years. I’m amazed at what our mind and body can do when we choose a path with conviction. The human spirit can overcome more than we are willing to admit sometimes. We definitely have human frailty and battles that most of us didn’t foresee in our lives, but the joy that comes from overcoming is hard to match.