Depression

“Some days, doing ‘the best we can’ may still fall short of what we would like to be able to do, but life isn’t perfect – on any front – and doing what we can with what we have is the most we should expect of ourselves or anyone else.”
– Fred Rogers

A dark cloud follows you everywhere.

Like a shadow, depression casts a gloomy cloud over every part of your life.

Depression is a bit like walking through a thick fog, dampening your senses, and muffling all sounds.

Depression blocks your view and cuts you off from those you love. It can feel paralyzing.

Life seems empty.

You swear you used to have interests – things you liked to do. Now everything feels “Meh.”

Your mind is scattered, and it is hard to hold a thought long enough for anything to make sense.

It feels pointless to try to read a book, watch a movie, or hold a simple conversation.

Let’s not even mention what depression is doing to your work life and relationships.

Doing anything is exhausting.

All the little “wins” (like putting pants on) to make it to breakfast (by lunchtime) leave you exhausted and ready to go back to bed.

Sleeping and eating are so out of whack; either it’s too much or not enough, and you never feel rested or nourished.

It’s as if the internal speed is set to either slow like a sloth or fast like you have ants in your pants.

Either way, you don’t get enough done. It’s embarrassing when other people notice.

Managing even small things is so hard.

Dishes sit in the sink. Even if you want to do them, they just don’t get done.

It’s the same with laundry, picking up around the house, taking out the garbage. These activities are simple things that, when done, feel so much better, but they remain untouched.

Nothing seems exciting.

You wish you could feel excited about something, anything.

It would be nice to have a moment of relief from the suffocating weight of sadness, guilt, and frustration.

It would help if you had a reprieve from the real aches and pains, the hurt, and the endless battle with your mind.

Your patience is so fragile. The rawness of everything hurts, leaving you quickly irritated, frustrated, and sometimes just plain angry.

You beat yourself up about how you feel.

You kind of hate yourself, or you would if that didn’t take so much energy.

Loathing or disdain is less taxing. Words like “Stupid,” “Worthless,” “Failure,” “Lazy,” or “Defective” echo in your mind as if etched on the back of your eyelids.

Depression tells us that we aren’t enough.

Depression says that we are a burden and a barrier to others’ happiness and success.

Depression tells us we are too much, and no matter what we do, it will always feel like this.

The ones we love (friends and family) and even the entire world would be better off without us.

Depression says that it would be so much easier to give up.

But depression is lying.

It’s time to explore what feeds the sadness, steals your hope and joy, and dims your light.

And change it.

You can feel better. And I can help you learn how. It’s a matter of uncovering the source of your depression.

Maybe something happened that you haven’t quite recovered from yet, or your thoughts are stuck in a vicious cycle of negativity, or the things you learned don’t work for you anymore.

We will work together to identify the cause of those thoughts that keep recycling negative self-statements. Once identified, we work on you finding new and better things to say about yourself.

We help you define new beliefs and cast off those that don’t work anymore. You will learn to follow your dreams rather than being stifled by depression. The goal is to remove patterns in your life (poor relationships, dead-end jobs, etc.) that block your path, preventing you from moving forward

It’s time to move on to a better life.

We will fine-tune what needs a minor change and maybe even sledgehammer to remove the stuff that is just not right for you anymore.

Doing small things won’t feel impossible anymore. Depression’s hurdles will be easier to handle. And you’ll start to feel better. Life will be easier, more content. Maybe even happy.

One step at a time. It’s time to shine again.

Contact me today!