Do I have depression?

You’re asking yourself, “Do I have depression?”. Read on.

Many people suffer from depression. You may be at this moment sitting with or near someone with depression, but you won’t be aware of it. Most sufferers are very good at outwardly masking their feelings, ie “putting on a brave face” when inwardly they are in deep despair.

The problem with depression is that unless you have experienced it yourself, you won’t understand it, because it’s invisible.

Unlike a broken arm in a cast, where you can see and understand the physical pain, depression has no visibility.

Signs that you might be suffering from depresssion

Sometimes when clients come for help with depression the question asked is “will Hypnotherapy get rid of my depression completely?”. The simple answer to this is no because we all have low and high days. It’s just the light and shade of life feeling low is an emotion just like happiness.

Low feelings can be caused by life’s situations or a life changing event such as bereavement. However if your low feelings are constant then this can effect everything in your life.

Some signs that you may be depressed;

No longer interested in things you used to enjoy.

Things that you usually enjoy such as going to the gym, walking, reading just feel like too much effort.

There may be times when you can’t even be bothered to watch tv because you have no concentration. You may even find that music just becomes a white noise.

The sad thing about this unfair symptom is hobbies and interests are really beneficial for our mental health. Exersise for example, releases critical endorphins in our brains to give us that feelgood emotion which helps motivate us.

You may also find that your libido disappears, your appetite decreases or you can’t be bothered to socialize. You might also stop taking care of your appearance and how you look.

A lack of energy and generally feeling lethargic are also common signs of depression.

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You’re isolating yourself

Sometimes we all have times when we feel that we can’t be bothered to go out. But, if those times stretch from days into months then you’re likely isolating yourself. If you’re not responding to invitations to see friends or family then it is more than likely that this is deliberate isolation.

The reasons people choose to do this are because they can’t put on a happy face. It’s just exhausting to pretend to be jolly especially if you are already feeling worn out.

You have less patience so you may find the idea of engaging in social chit chat can cause irritability. The mere thought of going out can also cause extreme anxiety.

Even if you do summon up the wherewithal to be sociable in this low mood, you may feel an extreme sense of disengagement almost as if you were having an out of body experience.

You worry too much. Feel fearful or anxious

Depression and anxiety are different emotions. However people who suffer from depression do tend to have similar symptoms to anxiety sufferers.

You fear the worst may happen or worrying about things that haven’t happened or are unlikely to happen. Which of course, will create anxiety, panic attacks and stress.

Being in this state of mind is exhausting and will lead you to be unable to relax and switch off. It will also leave you with a constant feeling of doom in the pit of your stomach.

If you feel like this you may feel that depression is exclusively yours but it isn’t. Talk to close friends you may find they are or have felt the same way as you but you weren’t aware of it.

Negative thoughts and being self-critical

When we are in this low mood it can be from our own thoughts and we can be our own worst enemy.

This negativity can affect most people even intelligent,healthy and successful people can talk about themselves as being failures. They’re not able to see their real selves or are very critical of their outward appearance and no amount of reassurance from partners or friends will dispel this lack of self belief.

The general feeling is that they are feeling everyone else’s lives are better than theirs which is a distorted view of the truth brought on by depression.

The great news is that with the help of Hypnotherapy the brain can be rewired to think more positively and it can help delete the negative files in the mind.

Sleep patterns have changed

Perhaps you aren’t sleeping well, it may be that you have difficulty getting to sleep or that when you do you wake up constantly throughout the night with random thoughts running around in your head.

Maybe you feel like you want to sleep longer so that you can avoid any problems or just because you feel so worn out by life it may feel like covering yourself with the duvet and shutting off from the world is the easier option.

It isn’t!

You turn to food or drink for comfort

Comfort eating is a common response to depression; however, with this, we usually reach for unhealthy choices in our food intake, such as takeaways, cakes and in larger amounts.

The food that we eat can reflect are moods and that phrase “you are what you eat” is a very accurate one. When you eat too much, your weight increases, which will lower your already low self-esteem, which then leads you to comfort eat even more!

An increase in alcohol consumption can also be common; it’s a form of self-medication and escapism, or a way of drowning your sorrows.

Sometimes you may find you lose your appetite and no longer enjoy your food. Another indication that you are feeling low.