Written by Erica Gregory, LMFT
With all that is going on, many are asking: "Am I feeling down because of all the change, or am I legit depressed?" Many people ask this in counseling as they get started and I explain it to them this way:
Depression is a medical condition of the brain. Feeling down is a response to increased stress. When you are feeling down in response to increased stress you may have mood swings, feel overwhelmed, feel irritable, and overwhelmed. When you are depressed your brain is not producing the needed hormones to function and this impacts every part of your life. One key difference between feeling down and depression is that...
Depression takes away your ability to enjoy the things you love.
If fishing is your favorite thing and you look forward to it after a long stressful week and when you are out of there everything feels lighter. Depression takes this away from you. Someone who is depressed will see fishing as a lot of work, the idea of getting the tackle box ready or driving to the lake feels overwhelming. The idea of sitting in the sun for hours feels exhausting. Depression is like a heavy weight over your whole body making everything hard. You feel that you are not yourself, in feel lost and how to make it better. When you are overwhelmed or stressed due to a circumstance, fishing can give you temporary relief, you may not know how things will improve but you feel strong enough to put on foot in front of the other.
Here is a list of Depression Symptoms
1) Sleeping too much 10+ hours/night, or sleeping too little (cannot fall asleep, waking multiple times a night, or waking too early)
2) Overwhelming fear of dying or getting the virus, no matter how safe you are being- you cannot shake the fear.
3) Increase alcohol consumption
4) Cannot stop worrying about health of yourself and others.
5) Thoughts of taking your own life
6) Inability to enjoy the things you love
7) Isolation, not wanting to socialize with anyone when you have the opportunity
8) Decrease energy for the day
9) Increased feelings of guilt or self blame.
The good news is...
Anxiety and depression are the most treatment conditions of mental health. Medical depression can improve with the help of a licensed professional. Our counselors at JCAC specialize working with depression in adolescents, young adults, couples, and seniors. To schedule click https://calendly.com/JCACounseling
Learn how to find the right therapist Click Here
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The Counselors with Johns Creek and Alpharetta Counseling
Johns Creek and Alpharetta Counseling (#JCAC) is a warm and family orientated counseling practice in Alpharetta, Ga. We offer online counseling services in the states of Georgia and Florida. We offer in-office counseling service at our Alpharetta office which is conveniently located to serve Johns Creek, Milton, Roswell, and Cumming, Ga.
The JCAC Counselors specialize in counseling services throughout the lifespan! We offer play therapy, counseling for children, parental support, adolescent counseling, mental health services, couples counseling, premarital therapy, and individual counseling for adults.
To learn more about our practice, click here!
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