While everyone has experienced sadness, not everyone has experienced depression. In fact, if those around you have never been depressed, chances are they don’t have a real grasp on what living with this complex mental illness is like.

Depression is insidious. It affects not only your mood, but also your ability to feel, think, and function. It blunts sensations of pleasure, closes off connectedness, stifles creativity, and, at its worst, shuts down hope. It also often causes deep emotional pain not only to the person experiencing it, but to those closest to you. If you are experiencing any or all of the following please reach out to explore further what may be coming up for you:

• constantly feel tearful, empty, or worthless
• have little interest or pleasure in your work, hobbies, friends, family, and other things you once enjoyed
• notice dramatic changes up or down in your appetite or your weight not related to dieting
• often feel listless or fatigued for no obvious reason
• have trouble concentrating or making decisions
• find yourself wringing your hands, pacing, or showing other signs of anxious restlessness — or the opposite, moving or speaking more slowly than usual
• struggle with insomnia or sleep too much
• have recurrent thoughts of suicide or death

While working together we will explore what is underneath this depression, where it started and what may be holding it in place. If there are thoughts/feelings towards suicide we will normalize this experience while working together to keep you safe. With some clarity around your experience with depression and/or suicidal thoughts we can begin to put a plan in place for your path moving forward while simultaneously working on resourcing to help you in the day to day struggles.