Depression treated in Fareham Hampshire

Hypnotherapy successfully treating depression

What is depression?

Depression can feel like grief, and it is a kind of grief in the sense that it affects us with feelings of deep sadness and loss. I believe that people suffer from depression because they have at some time been unable to express or assert themselves appropriately, and as a result harbour depressed feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. Nothing is worth doing, or saying, and they have no happy feelings and no feelings of looking forward to anything. Depression is a withdrawal from the normal everyday joys of living, and in time drastically reduces our self esteem.

Feeling depressed

We can feel that no one is interested in what we have to say or how we feel, and what is the point it trying to be heard anymore? Sometimes termed unipolar depression, is a disorder which usually occurs every day for a minimum of two weeks. It causes us to experience negative thoughts and attitudes, and when we suffer with depression we can often see ourselves as failures with pessimistic views of ourselves; the future, and the world. Our world can seem as full of overwhelming obstacles.

Feelings you experiance when your depressed

	Feeling like you are on the outside looking in
	Every one else is leading a happy life, why aren't you
	Feeling like a part of you is missing and you can’t get it back
	Feeling worn to the core with a hopelessness, helplessness
	Feeling flawed and unable to succeed in anything

Symptoms of depression

	Sadness, and depressed mood
	Loss of interest and pleasure in usual life activities
	Changes in activity level
	Weight loss or gain
	Difficulties in sleeping
	Loss of energy and tiredness
	Negative self concept, self blame or self reproach
	Recurring thoughts of suicide or death
	Problems with concentration

Why do I get these feelings of depression

Depression is often quoted as a result of unspent anger which because it has nowhere to go is directed inwardly. When I say unspent anger I don’t merely mean an inability to have a temper tantrum.

For example, if a youngster is blamed for something they didn’t do, and no matter how hard they protested their innocence they weren’t listened to. Next time something similar happens they have already learned that when they tried to speak up and assert themselves it didn’t work. This teaches us a kind of learned hopelessness, and the strong feelings of anger felt at being blamed has nowhere to go. Although this is an oversimplified explanation it goes some way to explaining that when we are older, and perhaps still have problems with assertion skills and are easily hurt by other people it is a natural defence to turn inwardly and blame ourselves for everything that has ever gone wrong in our lives. The depression can be seen as a way of observing our own integrity, and the distorted belief in our feelings of worthlessness.

Some people seem to easily deflect insults and hurtful words and actions, and it seems that they are normal, but it is really because they have been listened to and allowed a voice and a point of view which has enabled them to develop skills of assertion and confidence thus avoiding stress related difficulties later in life.

Research has indicated that some of us who experience depression have lower levels of the neurotransmitters Serotonin and Noradrenaline. Noradrenaline is closely linked to the ’fight or flight’ response to a threat or perceived threat or danger.

Serotonin as a neurotransmitter is believed to play an important role in the inhibition of the following:

	Aggression
	Anger
	Appetite
	Body temperature
	Mood
	Sexuality
	Sleep
	Vomiting

This goes some way to corroborate the symptoms associated with Depression. However, drug research into the effects of medication that heightens the sensitivity of these neurotransmitters is inconclusive, as to whether Depression occurs as a result of low levels of these chemicals or whether Depression is there at the onset resulting in depleted levels of Serotonin and Noradrenaline. So, the drug effects don’t provide direct evidence of the origin of depression