Understanding depression: How can you overcome it?

Nobody is invincible. Every single day, people from all walks of life experience low mood for one reason or another. Whether it’s pressure from work, issues with family or friends, or even measuring ourselves against the impossible standards set on social media, when we’re faced with challenging times, feeling depressed can be a perfectly natural response. But it’s when the symptoms of depression persist past a couple of weeks that we should think about taking action.  

With 10% of the population suffering from depression each year, and everyone perceiving and reacting to situations differently, it’s actually a lot more common than people think. Lots of people try not to talk about the way they’re feeling because they see it as a sign of weakness, when, in reality, this couldn’t be further from the truth. It takes a lot of strength to seek help for feelings of depression but, before you can begin to make a change, you first need to understand what the symptoms are and how they could be influencing your life.

What are the symptoms?

There are many psychological symptoms of depression, including feeling low, sad or hopeless about situations. Depression also affects the way we view ourselves, causing low self-esteem and persistent negative thoughts that simply aren’t true, such as “People don’t like me” or “I’m so stupid”. We often accept these thoughts without question and this can have a huge impact on our mood and how we behave.

Though we all have ‘off’ days, when you start to lose interest in doing the things you once loved, life can become joyless and this can further maintain feelings of depression. We might hold back from attending social events, struggle to concentrate on tasks at work or slowly withdraw from our hobbies.

How do I get rid of my depression?

Though there isn’t a way to get “rid” of depression, there are very simple and effective ways you can learn to manage it. Some people try to take up regular exercise, others might seek one-to-one therapy – but what if we don’t have the time or resources to make these things happen? At Therapy for You, we refuse to let this be a barrier to those who need help. That’s why we’ve created free online video treatments, centred around Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, which will arm you with the tools and techniques to make positive changes to your thinking and the way you behave. Work through the course at home or on-the-go and at your own pace.

If you feel as though our online service could work for you, why not give our therapy courses a go? Head to https://www.therapyforyou.co.uk/courses/online to see what our free NHS service can do for you.

If at any point you feel as though you’re not making progress, or you are having suicidal thoughts, please speak to your GP.