Depression - Finding Help

Depression is the fourth leading cause of disability and disease worldwide. World Health Organization (WHO) projections indicate that depression will be the highest ranked cause of disease burden in developed countries by the year 2020. Depression is the third most common reason for consultation in general practice in the UK. Each year 6% of adults experience an episode of depression, and over the course of their lifetime more than 15% of the population will experience an episode. About two-thirds of adults will at some time experience depressed mood of sufficient severity to interfere with their normal activities.

The most common symptoms of depression are:

• - Persistent sadness or low mood. This may be with or without weepiness
• - Marked loss of interest or pleasure in activities, even for activities that you normally enjoy
• - Disturbed sleep compared with your usual pattern. This may be difficulty in getting off to sleep, or waking early and being unable to get back to sleep. Sometimes it is sleeping too much
• - Change in appetite. This is often poor appetite and weight loss. Sometimes the reverse happens resulting in comfort eating and weight gain
• - Fatigue (tiredness) or loss of energy
• - Agitation or slowing of movements
• - Poor concentration or indecisiveness. For example, you may find it difficult to read, work, etc. Even simple tasks can seem difficult
• - Feelings of worthlessness, or excessive or inappropriate guilt
• - Recurrent thoughts of death. This is not usually a fear of death, more a preoccupation with death and dying. For some people despairing thoughts such as "life’s not worth living" or "I don’t care if I don’t wake up" are common. Sometimes these thoughts progress into thoughts of and even plans for suicide.

How We Treat Depression

We offer our clients Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) alongside Psychotherapy. CBT is a psychotherapeutic approach which has been developed and adjusted over the last thirty to forty years and within that period it has grown increasingly popular and is recognised worldwide. An essential part of the treatment is to examine the thoughts and beliefs connected to our moods, behaviours, bodily sensations, and to the events in our lives. By doing so, we can become more aware of dysfunctional patterns of thinking which are associated with emotional and behavioural problems and work to challenge, and in time modify these, into more constructive ways. EMDR is a remarkable treatment method used to heal the symptoms of depression. EMDR therapy uses bilateral stimulation, right/left eye movement, or tactile stimulation, or sound, which repeatedly activates the opposite sides of the brain releasing emotional experiences that are "trapped" in the nervous system. EMDR allows a client to process an emotional experience they cannot yet talk about.

Depression - The London Recovery Clinic

There is a difference between sadness and depression. Sadness is a normal aspect of life, whereas depression is a clinical illness that does require treatment. Nick Kypriotis from the London Recovery Clinic explains about how depression can affect people, and discusses symptoms.