I don’t know if I feel lost, angry, upset, low or depressed. Does that sound familiar? You’re not alone.

Depression is when we feel a mixture of emotions (including angry, frustrated, upset, low) and we’re struggling to manage day to day, we might experience an ongoing sense of sadness or lose interest in things we loved and enjoyed.

Depression can affect how we think, feel and behave and can lead to changes both emotionally and physically from feeling hopeless, not being able to sleep to not feeling hungry. Below we’ve included some symptoms that you might be experiencing if you have depression:

Thoughts (what goes through my mind?):

• Having a sense of looming danger or panic
• Difficulties making decision and remembering things
• Frequent or fleeting thoughts of death or harming oneself
• Worrying about lots of things or bad things
• Finding it’s hard to switch off – your mind is constantly thinking and ruminating about things

Emotions (how do I feel?):

• Feeling worthless or guilt (you might be focusing on past failures or holding self-blame)
• Feelings of sadness, tearfulness
• Feeling empty and hopeless
• Feeling nervous and like the world is speeding up or going too slowly

Physical (how does my body feel?):

• Very tired
• difficulties concentrating
• restlessness
• experiencing unexplained aches, pains and headaches
• Symptoms that are similar to IBS (might experience stomach cramps)
• Reduced sex drive
• Changes to menstrual cycle
• Reduced appetite or increased cravings for food
• We might be slower in our speech or body movements (like we’re walking through treacle)

Behaviours (what might I be doing or not doing?):

• Withdrawing from friends or family members
• Avoiding activities (we might make excuses not to see our friends)
• Not doing things we enjoy as much (such as taking time off work, going on holiday or doing our hobbies)
• Might be more irritable with the ones we love
• Experience angry outbursts over small things
• Staying in bed more often
• Engaging more with substances such as drinking alcohol or using recreational drugs

There are different types of depression including:

1. Prenatal & postnatal depression: This can occur for expectant and new parents (both mums and dads!) due to the hormonal and life changes that occur with a new baby. It’s important to talk to your GP, midwife and/or health visitor if you’re noticing any symptoms of depression or feeling unable to bond with your baby or being frightened to be away from your baby (e.g. if your partner looked after the baby whilst you popped to the shop).
2. Seasonal depression: This can occur usually during the winter months when the clocks change, and we experience more bad weather and the nights drawing in.

Why might I feel depressed?

Depression can be triggered by a range of things including:

• Being made redundant from work
• Experiencing bereavement
• Going through relationship difficulties or a divorce
• Financial worries
• Experiencing a long-term health condition such as chronic pain, diabetes or cancer
• Having been through a traumatic event and coming to terms with what has happened
• Changes to our hormones e.g. through menopause or pregnancy

How can I feel more like me again?

When we experience we do want to feel more like ourselves again but often we can find this quite difficult to do as one of the main symptoms of depression is low motivation and withdrawing from things that give us enjoyment.

There a several things that can help (we have only included a selected handful):

1. Antidepressant medication – often people find taking medication can help to reduce their symptoms and help them to feel motivated. Sometimes, people might take only medication whereas others might find it helpful to have therapy alongside. We do not provide medication advice at Lifted Therapy and we would always encourage you to visit your GP or pharmacist to discuss medication.
2. Therapy – CBT has been shown to be very effective in reducing symptoms of depression as it focuses on supporting you in the here and now, looking any unhelpful thoughts and behaviours and supporting you to develop new ways of coping. This includes techniques to slowly increase activities (things you enjoy, routine and necessary activities – don’t worry it’s not solely focused on physical activity but you can do that if you wish to!).
3. Writing things down or journaling – sometimes, writing down our thoughts and feelings in a journal can be helpful as it helps us to express pain, anger and fear in a different way
4. Lifestyle changes – this can be helpful alongside therapy because it can often involve supporting you to develop a sleep routine, building in a balanced diet and setting achievable goals.