One of the big issues that nearly everyone will have when they deal with anxiety at some point is a little bit of depression. Of course, nearly everyone will experience some mild depression at some point in their lives. It is only natural, but being able to “shake it off” has
Abe Lincoln was said to be depressed...
to be accompanied with some sort of help. Knowing the signs of depression is, of course, the first step towards getting yourself back on track. Remember, this is a helpful site, but by no means is any sort of clinical recommendation being made. With that, let’s go ahead and talk a little bit about the common signs of depression, and remember that if you think you may be depressed, that you’re not alone, we all go through things at times in our lives, and getting some support is better than a good idea, it’s a great idea.
First off, there is a difference between feeling a little in the dumps, and being clinically depressed. For the purpose of this blog post, we’ll go over those that are applicable to clinical depression, but hopefully you’ll still find some value here. After all, I think that we all know that when it comes to some of these feelings and experiences, the potential for a “snowball” effect is pretty substantial, and one “little” thing leads to another, and before you know it, you’re stuck in a nasty cycle. Let’s move on.
So, if you’ve had problems concentrating, had a decrease in energy, started to feel a loss of self esteem, like you’re worthless or helpless, suddenly achy without being “sick”, loss of motivation, or anything similar, these may be signs of depression. Of course, there are more, but the point is that there are a lot of things that could be a problem, and getting wound up out of concern that your mental state may be cracking a little isn’t a good thing either. What to do then?
This is a tough one. Depending on what is going on in your life, maybe all of these feelings are kind of normal. After all, of anyone that’s read this blog, has gone through a breakup and not felt just about all of the symptoms that were listed above? Things happen in life, and when they do, it is not uncommon to feel less than great.
Personally, I prefer to force myself to be more social and get connected with my family on a more regular basis. I’ve been fortunate enough to avoid depression, but sure, anxiety happens, and that may lead to, or stem from depression.
There is always counseling and self help options as well. One that gets a lot of positive mention online is a ebook called Panic Away. At this point, I’ve never used it, and don’t know how it would work for signs of depression, nor do I know how it would work for signs of panic and anxiety. It may be something to check out and see how things go though.
I’m not trying to sell you anything, just thinking of things that may be helpful.
Even better though, is to get hooked up with a good counselor who can help you to work through what is going on. Depression isn’t something to take lightly, and if you think that you are showing signs of depression, or that you know someone who is, please be sure to get yourself the support that will help you cope.
Of course, should you be feeling anything especially “dark”, please remember that there is always help. It’s not fun to feel down and depressed, but it’s even less fun to go on feeling like that for a long time.
This may not be the most helpful post, but maybe it’ll work itself into a longer post, or another one with a little more value for everyone. Leave a comment if there is something missing, you found something that could use improving, or if you just feel like commenting.
