Depression Counselling

What is Depression?

Depression is more than just feeling sad or a depressed mood.  Depression will affect people differently, and many people need help in the form of depression counselling. Although there may be similar symptoms it can look very different in people’s lives, and many leave the symptoms for a long period of time before finding depression counselling.

Depression involves a cluster of symptoms, which may include:

• An unusually sad mood that does not go away
• Loss of enjoyment and interest in activities that use to be enjoyable
• Lack of energy, and tiredness
• Loss of confidence in self and poor self-esteem
• Feeling guilty when you are not really at fault
• Wishing you were dead and/or thinking about harming yourself
• Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
• Moving more slowly or alternatively becoming agitated and unable to settle
• Having difficulty sleeping or alternatively sleeping too much
• Loss of interest in food or alternatively eating too much.

What are the effects of depression?

Depression may have you feeling sad, angry, tearful and lots of different emotions all rolled into one, and an initial session of depression counselling will cover how you are feeling and what effect this is having on you.

Depression may also affect your physical body, and this is discussed during your depression counselling session:

• Lack of energy
• Sleeping too much or too little
• Constipation
• Appetite – to much or too little and subsequent weight gain or loss
• Irregular menstrual cycle
• Loss of sexual desire
• Unexplained aches and pains

Depression can have a significant impact on your life and receiving depression counselling is important in getting back to the way life used to be.   If you are feeling overwhelmed, or are thinking about hurting yourself, it is important to seek help.  Depression counselling can help you get back on track. Call Bright Ideas Psychology today to discuss how we can help you receive depression counselling that works.

How can you manage depression?

For some people, the first place they look for help is with their doctor for anti-depressant medication, rather than depression counselling.  It is important to note however that depression can be successfully managed without the use of medication, and new research is indicating that anti-depressants do not have any long term impact on managing depression at all.   Depression counselling is a more proven effective way to manage mental illness, together with an increase in physical activity. Call Bright Ideas Psychology today to make an appointment for depression counselling and get back to feeling more like yourself.

Counselling

You can access depression counselling at Bright Ideas Psychology without a referral.     If you are on a mental health plan by your doctor you may be eligible for some sessions with a psychologist that can rebated through Medicare.   Some of the things a mental health counsellor may do with you in a depression counselling session include listening non-judgmentally to how you are feeling, discussing with you issues in your life that may be affecting your mental health and well-being, helping you to identify and change unhelpful thought patterns, and offering you practical strategies to help manage the depression.  Sometimes depression can have you feeling like ‘what’s the point?’, and you might be feeling like talking things over in depression counselling is the last thing you feel like doing.  Taking some time out to reflect on what is important in your life may help you to find motivation to keep going.   Depression counselling can be highly successful to get your life back on track.