Depression Treatment

Feeling down, low, could care less? Depression Treatment can help you regardless if you have felt this way your whole life. Or maybe you just started to feel depressed. No matter how you’ve experienced depression it is not a life sentence! You do not have to struggle with the deep effects of depression indefinitely. Depression Treatment can help you find relief!

DEPRESSION BY DEFINITION

Depression by definition is having a depressed mood or a loss of interest or pleasure over the duration of at least a 2-week period. It also includes some of these other symptoms nearly everyday:

  • Therapists in Alexandria VAFeeling sad, empty or hopeless
  • Loss of interest in things you used to enjoy
  • Significant change in weight (not due to intentional dieting)
  • Significant change in sleep pattern: can’t sleep or can’t stay awake
  • You physically move different (in psychology terms we call this psychomotor retardation or psychomotor agitation)
  • Fatigue or loss of energy
  • Difficulty thinking, concentrating, or struggling with indecisiveness
  • Recurring thoughts of death or thinking about suicide

These symptoms affect significant impairment to your daily living to include how you socialize, function at work, or interact in other ways in your life. While this information is not intended to be used for self-diagnosis, it is meant to help you determine if you or a loved one would benefit from depression treatment.

HOW DEPRESSION IS EXPERIENCED

Often times you may go on throughout life struggling with depression and chalk it up to “this is just how life is for me.” Experiences of depression may include:

  • Everyone is able to be happier than me
  • Having fun feels like a chore
  • There’s something wrong with me, there’s nothing I can do about it
  • I can’t get out of bed in the morning; it feels like there are 25-pound weights on my feet
  • I feel like I want to cry, but the tears are trapped
  • I cry all the time, I can’t help it
  • This will never end
  • I’m stuck
  • I hate myself
  • I hate these other people in my life
  • I’m a failure
  • I’ve let everyone down
  • I’d be better off dead

DEPRESSION AND PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS

Did you know that depression affects not just your mood, but how your body feels too! There is a connection between our mood and our body function. Here are some common symptoms related to depression:

  • Low energy
  • Sleep disturbances
  • Headaches / Migraines
  • GI disturbances
  • Appetite changes
  • Aches and pains
  • Bowel dysfunction
  • Heart palpitations
  • Chest pain
  • Abdominal & pelvic pain
  • Neck pain
  • Joint pain
  • Dizziness
  • Upset stomach
  • Cramping

 

According to researchers more than 70% of depressed patients present to their doctor with physical symptoms, and the likelihood of depression increases with the increasing number of physical symptoms.  (Simon GE, et al. N Engl J Med. 1999;341:1329-1335. Kimayer LJ, etal. Am J Psychiatry. 1993;150:734-741. Kroenke K, et al. Arch Intern Med. 1993;153:2474-2480).

DEPRESSION IS REAL

Depression should never be taken lightly. Depression treatment is a common concern men and women seek treatment for in the United States. While many would say “oh just pull your boot straps up and get over it!” it’s not that easy when it comes to depression. Many stigmatize depression as something that doesn’t really exist – it’s just in your head. Others stigmatize depression as weakness. These are stigmas and not accurate messages!

People experience depression for many reasons. You may experience depression very differently from someone else you know. Causes of depression range from organic heredity, distress in relationships, transitional changes in life such as children leaving home for college, elderly parents needing care-giving, and relationship changes such as divorce, estranged family dynamics, and job loss. The causes of depression are quite endless; thankfully there is hope for depressive symptoms.

I HAVE POWER OVER DEPRESSION?Depression Treatment Alexandria VA

Depression is not something you can simply make go away. Nor is it something that you choose to have. However, depression is a mental health disorder you can choose to treat! You do have power over depression when you choose to address it. You have power over depression when you allow yourself to get curious about ways in which you can feel different. Welcome to depression treatment!

THE HOPE

For some, depression is a one-time experience that seems to be incited by a life-event. For others depression has been an on-going experience. The hope is that no matter how you have experienced depression that you can gain relief.  Finding ways to cope with depression, mitigate its effects, and perhaps resolve underlying causes for your depression will all be a part of your treatment.Alexandria Therapist

DEPRESSION TREATMENT

In the privacy of counseling, together we will address your depression. You will have the choice to keep this matter private, or you may share with loved ones that you are seeking treatment. You will share as little or as much as you choose about your depression as you grow in your sense of safety and trust with me as your therapist. Together we will look at the full picture of your depression; how it most affects you, how you would like it to be different, and what avenues of intervention will most likely make a difference. Depression is not something you have to face alone. I encourage you to contact me today to learn more about how counseling can help.

SO NOW WHAT?

When you are ready, feel free to call or contact me via the contact form on this site. I’m more than happy to answer your initial questions and set up an appointment. (703) 457-6828 Contact Me

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