The Effects of Depression and How We Can Help

Sadness is part of life, and it would be a rare thing to find someone who hasn’t been sad from time to time. While sadness is part of the human condition, when it overwhelms your life, this emotion might have turned the corner into depression.

Americans are no strangers to depression — it’s one of the most common mental health issues in the United States and touches the lives of 21 million adults, to say nothing of the millions of adolescents and kids who struggle with depression.

While sadness is certainly at the center of depression, there are other signs that our team here at Quandary Peak Counseling wants to review, And, more importantly, we dive into how we can go about freeing you (or your loved one) from depression.

Common signs of depression

We’ve already touched on one of the cores of depression, which is overwhelming sadness. This sadness is all-encompassing, and not even your favorite people or activities can bring a smile to your face.

In addition to overwhelming sadness, many people with depression also experience:

• A sense of hopelessness
• Anger and irritability
• Feelings of worthlessness
• Guilt
• Suicidal thoughts or ideation

These are some of the common feelings that are associated with depression, but there are also side effects of this mental health issue that we get into next.

Common side effects of depression

What goes on inside your brain when you have a mood regulation disorder like depression can cast a wide net over your health and wellness.

People with depression often experience side effects, such as:

• Sleep issues that range from sleeping too much to sleeping too little
• Difficulty with concentration and memory that affects school or work performance
• Body aches and joint pain
• Headaches
• Loss of energy and constant fatigue 
• A decrease or increase in appetite
• Social isolation
• Gastrointestinal issues

Alarmingly, up to one-third of people with depression turn to drugs or alcohol to self medicate, so substance use disorders often co-occur with depression.

There is hope for depression

The picture we’ve painted above is not a happy one, and we understand how all-encompassing a condition like depression can be. We want to assure you that there’s a way out.

Here at our practice, we have extensive experience helping people to break free from depression using a range of therapies that get to the heart of the issue, such as:

• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
• Mindfulness-based approaches
• Family systems therapy
• Trauma-informed therapy
• Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)

The last two on our list — trauma-informed therapy and DBT — are useful for depression that may be rooted in trauma or grief. If your depression stems from other sources, CBT is a good approach that retrains your brain to favor more positive thought patterns.

Rest assured, we work with you to figure out which approach is best and then we move forward to free you from the prison that depression can create so that you can enjoy your life again.

For expert and compassionate treatment of depression and other mental health issues, we invite you to call our office in Denver, Colorado, at 720-675-7918, or you can request an appointment online today.