You try to put on a happy face for everyone and go about your day, pretending everything is fine. But the moment you’re alone again, the heaviness of it all comes flooding back.
Whether you’re putting on a mask for others or not, depression can show up in different ways through our body, mind, feelings, or behaviours. We may notice that it shows up in certain ways more than others or some may be more obvious to spot, while others can fly under the radar.
Common experiences for someone living with depression:
• The stiffness, extreme fatigue, or changes in your sleep or appetite can make it hard to get out of bed in the morning or have the energy to take care of yourself or others throughout the day.
• You may find that you become irritated or frustrated more quickly, which can impact your relationships and interactions with loved ones, co-workers, or that person on the bus.
• There might an underlying feeling of loneliness and hopelessness that follows you throughout your days. Where you used to feel a sense of purpose or direction in your life, you’re now noticing thoughts, like “what’s the point?”, becoming more frequent, squashing any desire to create or reach your goals.
• You may stop engaging in activities that used to support your well-being, like moving your body, trying something new, or connecting with your spirituality.
• You’re isolating yourself from others: cancelling plans you had with loved ones, not responding to loved ones when they reach out, or not making new plans at all.
• You feel numb more often than not. Or if you do feel something, like joy when you watch a funny video, it’s fleeting and doesn’t last.
Some of us may have been living with depression for a long time and not remember what it felt like to live without it, while others may have a more recent experience with it. While we may share some similar experiences or symptoms of depression with others, the underlying reason for depression is unique for each of us. At times, depression may be due to anxiety, self-worth challenges, unprocessed grief, or repressed anger.
Together, we can begin to understand your depression, including what factors may have contributed to it developing and what factors may be maintaining it. Whether it’s looking at underlying core beliefs, processing anger or grief, or connecting to different “parts” of yourself, we’ll discuss what counselling approaches would be best suited for you, helping you begin to let go of the heaviness you’ve been carrying for so long.