If you are experiencing depression you may feel sad, depressed, or down. You may also have other symptoms as well. These symptoms include:
- Feeling less interested in activities that you like to do
- Feeling bored
- Loss of appetite or increased appetite
- Problems concentrating
- Problems sleeping
- Fatigue or loss of energy
- Feelings of worthlessness or excessive, inappropriate guilt
- Moving slower than usual or alternatively being fidgety
- Thinking and/or talking about death
- Suicidal ideation
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one evidence based practice for treating depression. CBT proposes that people make evaluations about different areas of their lives, and based on how they are seeing what’s happening, conclude that they should feel depressed. When participating in CBT, your therapist will help you examine the ways that you are evaluating different parts of your life, and help you to look at things differently. Your therapist will also likely encourage you to make a list of activities that you have enjoyed doing in the past, and to try doing naturally rewarding activities.
Interpersonal therapy (IPT) is another evidence based treatment for depression. IPT suggests that people feel depressed when they have a lack of fulfilling interpersonal relationships in their lives. When participating in IPT, your therapist will help youto examine the ways that you relating to other people. They will help you review your interactions with others, then highlight ways that youmay be pushing people away without realizing it. Then, your therapist will help you learn to relate more effectively to other people by practicing new interactions with you in the office. Then you will practice relating differently to people outside of the office.