I have worked with a large number of clients and have often been struck by how the experience of depression can differ so much between individuals.
Some describe it as feeling they are constantly carrying around a heavy weight, a dark cloud in their head, a deep it or shadow that they struggle to get away from. Some describe it in terms of a general feeling of hopelessness, unhappiness, worthlessness or feeling stuck in the past. Others describe noticing sleeplessness, achiness, their head feeling fuzzy or a change in appetite and enjoyment of things that used to bring them joy.
It can be so easy when these feelings feel overwhelming to feel alone, to avoid others and to beat yourself up for ‘not coping’. There can also feel a real need to understand why you feel like this.
It’s at this time you need to hear that you’re not alone, that even if it feels difficult to understand or hard to pin down a specific cause, what you are experiencing is your body’s natural response to life’s challenges. I want you to know that what you are feeling isn’t a sign of weakness or another comment on your flaws.
I am here to stand with you and help you believe, however desperate things feel, it is possible for things to change.
I have found that counselling can be really powerful as it gives the chance for you to feel safe to experience the feelings and thoughts that often feel ‘too much’ to think about or that we may not even be fully aware are causing us so much trouble. We have the chance to see and understand ourselves fully, to accept and learn to be kind to ourselves and to recognise our potential, our extraordinary ability and most importantly that there IS hope.
I know reaching out when you are feeling how you are may feel really hard. I have seen that you will feel better for doing it and it is one, hugely important, step towards finding yourself again.