It is challenging to remain grounded in the face of strong feelings of anxiety or depression. Counselling provides an opportunity for you to strengthen your capacity to regulate difficult feelings and to find ways of …
The Extent of Anxiety and Depression
Depression and anxiety are the most common mental health issues and impact millions of people worldwide. They affect both mental and physical health and are among the largest causes of unwellness. Left untreated, these conditions can lead to more serious things like agoraphobia or even suicide. If you are experiencing one or both of these conditions, you are certainly not alone!
Why are Anxiety and Depression on the Rise?
Depression and anxiety are on the rise and more people are experiencing them than ever before. People become anxious or depressed for external and internal reasons. Internal factors are linked to what is happening around us and include things like isolation, inequality, loneliness, competition, lack of direction. Some people carry hardships from their earlier lives which take their toll on mental health. Others are just naturally more susceptible to becoming anxious or depressed.
External factors are linked to what is going on in the world around us. Today’s world is a complex place to find ones’ way through. Despite it being more modern and developed than at any point before, people are struggling more than ever to find their way and to maintain their sense of well-being. Many people are feeling insecure about global politics and this leads to feelings of insecurity, fear of the unknown and questions about the future. At the same time, most of us are also concerned about climate change and the future implications it will have on us and our loved ones. We’ve all scrolled through our phones reading about the various conflicts between countries and wondering when the next devastating fire will hit our beautiful province. Research has shown that concerns about climate change and political instability have led to increased rates of depression and anxiety.
Privately many of us feel anxious about where our world is heading. And we don’t always want to share these depressing thoughts with others so we end up feeling alone. And yet, collectively so many of us are experiencing the same dread of eco-anxiety and political instability. And so we grapple alone with how to manage our anxiety and depression.
We all feel some level of anxiety and depression at times and this is normal. It becomes a problem when it starts to interfere with living your life. You can tell if you are feeling anxious when your heart is pounding, you are nervous, restless and tense, or you have a sense of impending danger or panic. You can usually tell if you are depressed when you feel down, unmotivated, sad, have nothing to look forward to, and find it too hard to move through even the basic tasks of your life. When you hit the point where your anxiety or depression become too much for you to handle on your own, and they are impacting the quality of your life, it’s time for counselling.
How Can Counselling Help with Anxiety and Depression?
It is challenging to remain grounded in the face of strong feelings of anxiety or depression. Counselling provides an opportunity for you to strengthen your capacity to regulate difficult feelings and to find ways of continuing to function in your daily life despite grappling with these feelings. I am trained in finding ways to build resilience and supportive social connections. My approach is client centered and I devise an individual plan for every client based on their particular needs. I use an integrative approach in my work, drawing from models such as Internal Family Systems, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Interpersonal Therapy. Counselling can help you manage, reduce and ultimately eliminate your symptoms of depression and anxiety.
I want to hear your story, to know what you are struggling with, to do an inventory of what you already do that works and to help you develop more ways of managing your anxiety and/or depression. I will assess the severity of your situation and suggest what might be helpful for you. I can link you in to online self-help websites that you can work through in your own time and in the privacy of your own home. These will help keep you afloat between our sessions. I can offer ongoing support and we can work together to get you through this challenging period in your life.
If you are feeling anxious or depressed now, chances are high that you will feel it again at future points throughout your life. The strategies we implement for you that work now will also work for you in future when it recurs. I want to empower you to find what works for you – so that next time round, you will be able to quickly and effectively access the tools you’ve developed to help alleviate the pain of these experiences.
These problems can be too difficult to contend with by ourselves. They cause us to lose our perspective and it is easy to spiral down into negative thinking processes that are hard to climb back from.
I am familiar with both anxiety and depression and will be able to easily relate to what you are experiencing. If you want someone who has been there to walk alongside you through this difficult time of your life, please reach out by contacting us.
I look forward to working with you.
External Links:
To learn more about external contributions to depression and anxiety, visit Forbes: Angry? Depressed? You Could Be Grieving Over World Events
For help managing feelings around external circumstances, visit Tips to Look After Your Mental Health During Traumatic World Events
For more on the benefits of seeing an integrative therapist, check out Integrative Therapy Works on PubMed
For help recognizing the symptoms of depression and/or anxiety, check out Are You Missing These Signs of Anxiety or Depression at Harvard Health
