Helping Emotional Problems & Feeling Down with Psychotherapy at 1066 Therapy
covering East Sussex, Battle, Hastings, Bexhill, Rye, Heathfield, Hailsham, Eastbourne, Crowborough, Brighton, Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, Ashford and Kent.
I am often asked for help with emotional problems, feeling down, and depressed feelings / depression at my practice just outside of Battle, East Sussex.
Depression is the UK’s most common mental /psychological health problem. It affects an average of 10% of the population in any one year.* It is thought that as many as one in five people will be affected by depression in their lifetime.
We all feel sad, low, or ‘down’ occasionally, often as a reaction to upsetting or difficult life events and experiences. These feelings generally pass, given time. However, sometimes depressed feelings develop without us having a challenging event. Sometimes the feelings do not pass. Or they are so intense that they interfere with our everyday life. In these cases, we may feel depressed, and we may need to seek help.
When/why do people get depressed?
Depression can often occur following a serious illness, or a distressing life event such as the loss of a loved one, redundancy, divorce and so on. This is known as a reactive depression and will usually pass on its own given time and appropriate support. Research** has also shown that, if we already have other problems, especially problems such as low self-esteem or anxiety for example, the impact of such events is likely to be worse. Emotional problems can also result from adverse childhood experiences. These tend to be long-forgotten by the time someone develops depression. Alternatively, they are remembered but we don’t make a conscious connection between the two.
What is depression?
But what does being depressed mean? Depression usually involves a mixture of feelings. The following are the most common:
- low self esteem
- a feeling of isolation/lack of connection
- feelings of powerlessness, worthlessness, hopelessness & despair
- a sense of only being worth something when achieving / successful
- a sense that our needs are never met.
These feelings can lead to a loss of interest in work or hobbies; feeling stressed; tiredness; lack of interest in sex; and even physical aches and pains. When these feelings last long enough or are strong enough to affect our daily life, we may have depression. In some cases, depression seems more prevalent in the winter months. This is often labelled Seasonal Affective Disorder or (somewhat unhelpfully, I feel) SAD for short. If this is the case, many people find using a full-spectrum light box every day helpful.
Medical opinion on the ‘chemical imbalance’ theory
Medical opinion on depression often attributes it to a chemical imbalance in the brain, most often being low serotonin levels. However, a new study published by UK researchers in 2022 suggests that the long-standing and widely-accepted idea that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance and low serotonin evidence is wrong. Here is an interesting video on this:
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Based on the ‘chemical imbalance’ theory, a significant number of people with depression are prescribed anti-depressants. This is often an attempt to “correct” the (supposed) chemical imbalance and so control symptoms. However, there is research which has found that this may be little better than taking a placebo (a sugar pill without any potentially harmful side-effects). That said, other research also shows that taking pills is better than doing nothing at all.
Underlying causes
Research also strongly suggests that we need to resolve the underlying issues which are causing, or worsening, our depressed feelings. Recent research has shown that ‘talking therapy’ can be as effective, if not more so, than taking anti-depressants. This certainly seems to be a far better long-term solution than taking pills. After all, anti-depressants can only relieve the symptoms of depression, not cure it. Having some relief is important, though, and it can help us while we are working through the underlying causes. I don’t offer ‘talking therapy’ as such. I prefer to use therapy models which aim for deep and lasting change.
If you have these sorts of problems yourself, you may need to look at resolving any underlying or associated emotional /psychological problems (e.g. anxiety, low self-esteem etc) to help alleviate your depressed feelings.
Therapy help
I offer different approaches for this (and every problem). The choice of which one to take depends on the individual and their circumstances.
Please browse my site for information on the various therapies / approaches that I practise.
Call or text me now on 07722783490 to book your free 30 minute initial consultation.
1066 Therapy helping the people of East Sussex, Battle, Hastings, Bexhill, Rye, Heathfield, Hailsham, Eastbourne, Brighton, Crowborough, Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, Ashford, Kent.
*Singleton N, Bumpstead R, O’Brien M et al. Office for National Statistics: psychiatric morbidity among adults living in private households 2000. London: The Stationery Office (2001).
**D M Romney (1994): Cross-validating a causal model relating attributional style, self-esteem and depression: an heuristic study.
