hypnotherapy for depression

Psychotherapy and Hypnotherapy for Depression

Depression affects more people around the world than you may think. It isn’t just a few mood swings that we all get from time to time, it is deeper than that and tends to last more than a number of weeks. GP’s can often use the word ‘depression’ to refer to a period of low mod, but this is very different from suffering from ‘depressive illness’.

Depression is extremely common and literally anyone can get depression at some point in their lives, it doesn’t indicate that the sufferer is in any way weak, in fact, people who have depression are fighting the symptoms each and every day.

Treatment

Depression can be treated through a range of helpful ways. Very often, your GP may prescribe an anti-depressant to help with the low mood caused by the depletion of serotonin (our happy mood hormone). These tablets block the uptake of the serotonin and stabilises the mood.

Also, to compliment, or instead of, people may seek help from a therapist. There are a number of therapies available – Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), Hypnotherapy, Counselling, Gestalt and person centred therapy. These names may mean absolutely nothing to you, but they all have one thing in common – they all aim to return you to a healthy way of functioning mentally. At my consulting room in Warrington, Cheshire, I use many of these approaches. I use what I know to be efficient at helping the depressed mind.

Depression takes a little longer to treat than other emotional problems and you should really schedule and factor in at least 12 sessions. On the NHS this may be more, however the waiting list is long and the time given may only be 30 minutes. My sessions are between an hour and an hour and a half.

You must always see your GP if you feel that you may be suffering from depression. Only your GP or Psychiatrist can actually diagnose, therapists cannot!

More information

Roughly between 6 and 10% of the population may be afflicted by depression at any particular time and in recent reports it has indicated that at least 1 in 5 people will develop depression at some time in their life.

For some reason, women seem to be more likely to suffer from depression than men, however, this is based on statistics from the people who seek help, there may be many more people suffering who try to ride it out and do not seek any support, so the figures may not be entirely accurate.

If depression runs in your family then statistically you are more likely to develop depression via genetic factors. If you lost a parent when you were very young, this may also increase your chance of depression later in life.

The Causes?

The jury is out on this one. But there are indicators that may lead you to being more vulnerable to depression. If throughout your life, you have had many negative experiences, then you may view things in a very negative way and negative thoughts are very much associated with sustaining the depressed mood.

Stress can also be a factor, as is drug taking and alcohol abuse. Bereavement and various social factors may also play a part.

The Symptoms

• Losing interest in activities you once enjoyed
• Not gaining any pleasure form life
• Feeling worn out and exhausted
• Broken sleep patterns
• Difficulty in trying to get out of bed in the morning
• Weight loss or weight gain
• Brain fog – Can’t seem to concentrate or focus
• Low libido
• Quick tempered
• Low self-esteem
• Avoiding going out or speaking to other people
• Difficulty in decision making
• Feeling of hopelessness
• Feeling shame or guilt
• Suicidal thoughts – If you are having suicidal thoughts, you need to talk to someone straight away, you don’t have to be alone in this. Your support group is your family, your friends and any trained healthcare professional (such as your GP or therapist).

Diagnosis

Normally the diagnosis of depression is via a questionnaire where your GP will ask you a series of questions relating to your life and the length of time you have been suffering from the low mood.

Remember – Depression doesn’t choose you because you are weak! It doesn’t work like that, however, there is still a perceived stigma attached to mental health, but there needn’t be. It doesn’t define who you are as a person. You can overcome depression!

If you know someone who is depressed, you can help them by listening to their worries and concerns, very often, a sympathetic ear can mean a lot to someone who is feeling very low. Be patient with them, and try not to fall into the trap of asking them to ‘pull themselves together’ or to ‘get a grip’, that really doesn’t help matters, and I know that it can be a terrible strain on those who are close to the depressed person. So, take it easy and take your time. be there to support them.

Depression needs to be treated carefully and over a period of time. Therapy will help you restructure and challenge the depressive thinking.

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