Are You Feeling Isolated by Your Depression?
Do you feel overwhelmingly sad, empty or alone? Do you struggle to get out of bed in the morning? Have you started to feel like you are just going through the motions, and even the things you used to enjoy feel dull and meaningless? At the end of the day, do you feel emotionally drained and heavy? Do you wish you could enjoy your life again, connect with friends and loved ones, and have hope for your future?
Maybe you find that you have lost your passion or your life does not have a direction. When you lose the ability to enjoy your life, you can feel so isolated. You might feel guilty, ashamed and confused about why you are having these experiences, assume that no one can understand you and fear that you will be judged and rejected if people know what you experience. Perhaps it seems like you are dragging yourself though your obligations, and you are disappointed in your inability to be productive at work or to pursue your goals. You may even have moments when it feels that life is too painful or meaningless that you would rather be dead. Maybe you aren’t sure what to do or where you can turn.
Many People Face Depression at Some Point in Their Lives
If you are struggling with depression, feeling helpless and hopeless about the ability to change is common. You are not alone. Many people in Atlanta experience depression, but people often don’t share these feelings with loved ones. They may fear that people won’t understand or that they will be told to “just get over it.” Because we all can only see other people’s outer expression (such as how they choose to present themselves on social media), you may feel like you are a failure and that you are alone in your suffering. People often think that depression is the same thing as “sadness.” But, in my experience, depression is very different from normal sadness.
Depression is most often related to ineffective attempts to bury or avoid feelings that are painful, but that are also important in motivating you toward your goals. Examples of important feelings that can be motivating, but that cause depression when they are not dealt with well, include grieving a loss, or feeling sad and lonely when you don’t have the loving connection that you long for. Thankfully, there is a way to cope with these feelings and move forward in your life.
Depression Treatment Can Help You Rediscover Joy and Excitement
I have been working with patients who are experiencing depression for over 15 years. I find it fulfilling to help people build compassion for themselves, reconnect with the goals they have and discover that they are able to develop safe and fulfilling relationships with friends and loved ones. During depression treatment, my clients often find that they have the power to change long-standing patterns and feel a renewed hope and energy that allows them to enjoy life. They find that they are able to observe their thinking patterns and change the patterns that are not working for them.
I take an individualized approach to work with every client. I draw on the knowledge I have gained during the course of my education and career as a psychologist, and focus on helping a patient build immediate skills to find relief and begin to change their experience. Together, we will work to build skills for healthy self-soothing, change thinking patterns, eliminate harsh self-criticism and judgment and reconnect with safe people to find support. Even long-standing and deeply held patterns of belief can be changed over time. You can learn to cope with the factors that have made you vulnerable to depression, whether this is a genetic predisposition, a significant loss or set back, a difficult life experience or transition, or another trigger for depression symptoms.
With effective depression treatment, you can feel warm support that allows you to stop avoiding your feelings and learn new skills that increase your confidence in your ability to handle emotions and to reconnect with people in your life. After therapy, you can feel more energized, motivated, powerful and effective at pursuing your goals. You can begin letting go of guilt and shame so that you feel more connected to yourself and other people.
I think depression treatment can help me, but I still have some concerns…
It is so hard to believe that depression treatment would work for me.
Hopelessness about things getting better is one of the main symptoms of depression. Feeling worthless, powerless, ashamed and overwhelmed makes it very difficult to reach out for help. You know that you have tried everything you can think of to make things better. You may have a sense that you need to talk with a psychologist or therapist, but you are afraid that treatment won’t be effective for you. It makes sense that the pessimism and hopeless that may be part of your depression also affects your feelings about whether therapy can be effective.
I encourage you to listen to the wise inner voice that is telling you that you need help and to risk reaching out for support to see if therapy can help you make the important changes that you need to make in order to feel better.
Depression treatment can help you change self-destructive thinking and behavior patterns. You can develop ways to overcome the natural desire to shut down and avoid (to crawl into bed and pull the covers over your head). Of course, when you are feeling the emotional pain of depression, the desire to try to shut out emotions makes sense. But, with help, you can begin to feel less shame about your emotions. You feel understood and you begin to understand yourself as well. This process of therapy builds hope where before you felt none.
Don’t all psychologists focus only on the past, not making things better now?
You may have tried therapy to address your depression in the past and found that the focus was not on your current symptoms. It can be frustrating to feel that the therapist is not taking an individualized approach. If a therapist clings to only their own preconceived approach, it can feel like they are not really present with you. It makes sense that you want to be fully understood. As your therapist, I will listen to you and your needs and draw from multiple treatment strategies to address your symptoms and help you regain connection to your life.
You may be most interested in gaining practical strategies that you can use to change how you view yourself and other people. Often, your past experiences can be important in understanding the roots of your depression, and processing these can make you less vulnerable to these symptoms returning. However, it is always important that you understand and agree to the treatment approach and work with a therapist who is willing to be collaborative with you when planning the treatments that are recommended in your situation.
Isn’t treatment for depression long and expensive?
Not necessarily. Because my approach is individualized based on your needs and goals, we always keep these in mind. My goal is to help you regain your sense of power in your life as efficiently and effectively as possible. You can often see changes relatively quickly as you begin to build and practice strategies for combating depression patterns.
Therapy is also a smart investment in your future. People regain their ability to function at work and in relationships and find a sense of meaning and enjoyment in their lives. Sometimes, getting to the root of complex and long-standing patterns does take time, but we will always keep your goals in mind and work to focus the depression treatment so that you fully understand our direction and goals and see real improvements in your well-being.
Call me any time.
Being willing to face the pain that your symptoms are causing you and to reach out for help from a professional is the first step towards making permanent change. I would like to work with you to build or regain a sense of purpose in your life. Call me at 404-668-9893 or use the contact form on this website, and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have about your circumstances and my practice.