Depression Q & A
- May 19, 2021
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 18, 2023
What is depression?
Depression, clinically known as major depressive disorder, is an illness that causes feelings of intense sadness, worthlessness, and hopelessness.
Depression is sometimes caused by a chemical imbalance in your brain in which you have insufficient levels of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine.
This imbalance negatively impacts your mood and thoughts, leading to behavioral changes. Other causes of depression include environmental, psychological, and social issues, and negative thinking and behavior patterns.
What are the symptoms of depression?
Depression causes a wide range of emotional and physical symptoms some of which may include:
Sadness, emptiness, and hopelessness
Feelings of guilt, shame, or self-loathing
Loss of interest in activities you used to enjoy
Disturbed sleep
Changes to your appetite or weight
Fatigue
Irritability or feeling keyed up, on edge
Poor concentration and indecisiveness
Slow movements, thinking, and speech
Restless, purposeless movements
Frequent thoughts of death or suicide
If you are thinking of suicide or harming yourself, call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room for immediate help.
Depression can also impact your performance at work or school and disrupt your relationships. You may want to avoid social interaction or have trouble keeping appointments and deadlines.
How is depression diagnosed?
Our counselors begin treatment for depression with a thorough assessment. We use evidenced-based screening tools to assess the level of your depression and make treatment recommendations.
During your evaluation, you talk about your personal and family medical history as well as your current symptoms, lifestyle, and concerns. This assessment helps us gauge your depression and identify some areas for you to focus on in your counseling sessions.
Counselors can also teach you mindfulness skills to better manage negative moods, thoughts, beliefs and physical sensations associated with depression to enhance your positive experiences and get back on track to living a more fulfilling life.
Some people may benefit from a referral to obtain medication in addition to psychotherapy.
How is depression treated?
Emerging research shows that the various types of depression respond to different interventions. We provide customized therapy sessions to help you explore your thoughts and feelings and resolve underlying issues that contribute to your depression. Many of our patients benefit from specialized therapy including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR).
What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
CBT is a specialized form of therapy where you learn to recognize your negative thoughts and feelings and respond to them differently. During your sessions, you work on identifying triggers for your feelings and exploring how you react to them mentally and behaviorally. Then, you learn techniques to regain control over your responses. You practice those techniques at home between appointments, changing your habits.
What is EMDR?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences.
Call Trauma Recovery Services of Arizona to schedule an appointment for expert and compassionate counseling for depression.
"It's so important that you highlight the wide range of emotional and physical symptoms depression can cause. Often, people only associate it with sadness, but the fatigue, changes in appetite, and even physical slowness you mention are crucial indicators that can be easily overlooked or misattributed. Recognizing these diverse symptoms is a critical first step, but for those wondering how to objectively assess their own or a loved one's potential symptoms, it can be challenging to know where to start. For those seeking a structured way to gauge symptom severity or track progress, a reliable PHQ-9 depression screening tool can be incredibly helpful in initiating a conversation with a healthcare provider."
"Your point about depression manifesting through such a wide array of symptoms, from profound sadness and hopelessness to physical issues like fatigue and disturbed sleep, really underscores its complex nature. This complexity often makes it challenging for individuals to recognize they're experiencing depression, sometimes mistaking symptoms for everyday stress or physical ailments. Given this, having an accessible way to initially gauge the severity of these symptoms can be incredibly helpful for both individuals and healthcare providers. For those looking for a structured way to evaluate depression symptoms, resources like the PHQ-9 depression screening questionnaire can be a valuable first step in understanding their experience."