Depression and Anxiety

Depression and anxiety are among the most common mental illnesses and, fortunately, the most treatable.  They are often intertwined, with people showing signs and symptoms of both.  Both share the characteristics (either actual diagnostic criteria or soft signs) of worry, restlessness, fatigue, impaired concentration, irritability, and sleep problems.  Most of the time, we don’t feel very good about ourselves when depression or anxiety are present. We feel less capable and less able to be of value to others.  We struggle to enjoy the things we used enjoy, and feel we are benched on the sidelines of life.

Pharmacological treatments for both are similar, as are psychotherapeutic treatments.  Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and its various offshoots are the most evidenced based treatment.  Usually this involves looking at the content of our thoughts, which become distorted in these circumstances.  It also involves experimenting with different behaviors that allow us to resist negative patterns in our lives. Maybe we’ve become a square peg trying to fit into the round hole of our lives, and we need to sand off some of our sharp edges, forgive ourselves for our shortcomings, maybe try something different.

If this sounds like you, please reach out for help because it doesn’t have to be this way.