Therapy for Depression and Anxiety

Feeling depressed, sad, or down does not have to be a long-standing problem in your life. People who are depressed may have a variety of symptoms.

You may be depressed if you notice many of these common signs and symptoms:

• Feeling down, sad, hopeless, teary-eyed, or “blue” a good deal of the time (may appear as irritability in children)
• Losing interest or enjoyment in activities that used to make you happy, such as sex, hobbies, or sports
• Significant loss of appetite and/or weight loss OR food cravings and weight gain
• Difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or sleeping much of the time
• Slowed thinking or movements that other people can notice
• Loss of energy, feeling worn out or tired much of the time
• Feeling guilty, blaming yourself or others, feeling worthless or hating yourself, or fixating on past failures
• Difficulty thinking, concentrating, making decisions, or remembering
• Thinking about hurting yourself, dying, taking your life, or wishing you had never been born

Other symptoms can include:

• Irritability, frustration, and anger
• Feeling anxious, agitated, or restless
• Unexplained aches and pains
• Drug or alcohol abuse

Of course, we’ll also want to rule out other medical and mental health causes.

For example, you may have a specific fear.

This could include a fear of:

• Spiders, snakes, heights, flying, dogs, thunder and lightning, injections, germs
• Being in enclosed spaces, open spaces, in crowds, or alone outside the home
• Speaking in public, meeting new people, or eating/drinking in public
• Social situations
• Separating from your loved one

Alternatively, your fear may be more generalized.

You may:

• Feel anxious or worry about many different topics, events, or activities
• Notice that your worry shifts from one topic to another and is hard to control
• Feel edgy or restless, tired and worn out, irritable, or achy and sore

You may also experience:

• Trouble falling asleep, restless sleep, or waking feeling unrefreshed
• Difficulty concentrating or your mind goes blank
• Worse anxiety at night, because you’re tired, and the distractions of the day have evaporated