Me depressed? Really?
Depression is a feeling of sadness that won’t go away. In other words, depression is what we call it when our brains get stuck on sad. It’s important to know too what depression is not. Depression is not a character flaw, a weakness, or foul mood you can choose to switch off or wish away. Depression comes when our body, emotions, and thoughts get locked up on the emotion of sad. Like gears in a machine that grind to halt, beating it senseless won’t help. You’ll have to address the actual problem.
“Depression comes when our body, emotions, and thoughts get locked up on the emotion of sad. Like gears in a machine that grind to halt, beating it senseless won’t help.”
To understand depression more, let’s look at how it is defined by the American Psychiatric Association for mental health professionals.
Feeling sad enough that: my give-a-damn is broken.
When diagnosing depression, a mental health professional first looks for this key, definitional feature. Do you feel sad more days than not for at least two weeks? And do you feel sad to the point that you have lost interest in things that once gave you pleasure? My wife and I refer to this second criterion as “my give-a-damn” is broken. Just because you are sad doesn’t mean you are depressed. Just because you feel unmotived in life does not mean you are depressed. But put the 2 together for 2 weeks or more, and you may be experiencing depression.
“If your ‘Give-a-Damn’ has been broken for more than 2 weeks, you may be experiencing a depressive episode.”
You Feel Sad in Your Body
You can feel this sadness in your body. It looks like sudden changes in weight (gaining or losing 10 pounds in a week for an adult). Your sadness keeps you awake at night. Your sadness keeps you in your bed for far too long in the morning. You feel lots of nervous energy. Or you feel very low energy – and everything seems a great effort.
You Feel Sad in Your Mind
When you are depressed, you feel that sadness plague your thoughts most of the day. For some, this can be like thoughts of unworthiness, inadequacy, or helplessness. You may feel guilty for things beyond your control. You may have thoughts that life has lost its meaning or purpose.
For some, these thoughts grow into despair. Some find themselves contemplating death as a concept and their eventual demise. Some consider thoughts of hurting themselves or even ending their own life. This is the greatest danger of unchecked, untreated depression)
You Feel Sad in Your Relationships
Finally, when we get depressed, our feelings of sadness begin to shape our relationships. It may be that you have a hard time concentrating so doing work or school seems extra difficult. It may be that the negative thoughts begin to set create a negative tone in your family relationships. Some find it hard to expect positive things or even to see positive things from their family members as the negative thoughts and feelings define what you are able to see. You want to see the good, but you just cannot. Your family may understand, but your friends may misinterpret your experience as rejection or criticism.
“Depression hits your body, your mind, and your relationships— the whole enchilada.”
It’s the Whole Enchilada That’s The Problem: Get help!
When we experience depression, we often have several but not all of what is written above. In fact, depression severity is measured by how many boxes you check. Depression is common – through the pandemic, up to 40 percent of us experienced a depressive episode in the United States. Depression is serious. It can do lasting harm to ourselves and our loved ones if left unaddressed. Depression is treatable. Working with a mental health professional, many instances/episodes of depression can be reduced or resolved in a matter of a few weeks to a few months.
During the pandemic, up to 40 percent of us experienced a depressive episode in the United States according to government sources.
Start Healing - Get Help Today
If you are feeling sad and your sadness feels stuck, give me a call. Toughing it out or going it alone is not what you want to do. I use (and train you on) research-validated tools that focus on the connections between thoughts, feelings, and actions to bring lasting, positive change for you. In therapy, we together engage a non-judgemental process that helps us to slow down, observe what needs changing and make doable adjustments day by day and week by week.
“Call 512-434-0716 for your free 15-minute consultation or use the button below to schedule. ”
