“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it.” — Eckhart Tolle
If the above quote is accurate, it leads to the question: How do we change our thinking about a situation?
This would be to change our perception of an event. You could use the saying that every cloud has a silver lining. I recognize this may sound trite; however, if we look at things from a different perspective, we will find the situation is different than we had looked at the case previously. Giving a situation time to change and develop is also an essential part of being able to change a perspective. Changing one’s perspective often appears more complicated than it may be. Changing simple words we use to describe the situation can be very helpful in changing how we see the event and how we see it about the event. What we will tell ourselves about things is influenced by how we see the event how we see ourselves and how we see our ability to interact in the world. So how do we see the world? Most of us have heard about depression and could say the significant symptoms of depression include thoughts of self-harm, not wanting to do things that would typically be appealing or fun, and not attending to activities of daily living, eating, cleaning, and bathing.
Other symptoms of depression may not be as familiar or as clear. Listed below are some of the lesser-known symptoms of depression.
Brain Fog
The feeling of walking around in a fog when you are not paying attention to things around you or have more incredible difficulty attending to simple tasks can be this brain fog. It can affect all the aspects of cognitive functioning, such as memory, decision-making skills, and the ability to focus on a single task. This fog can also cause slower reaction times and a sense of being blocked or stuck. This, of course, leads to other feelings of inadequacy, which can, of course, perpetuate the sense of depression and brain fog as we continue to focus on the things we are not able to do instead of recognizing the things that we are doing and giving ourselves a little bit of space to and time to manage the feelings and thoughts. Being kinder to ourselves in our expectations of what we “should” be doing is not always helpful to feeling better.
Research has shown that depression can cause structural changes in the brain that also contribute to the perpetuation of brain fog. Recognizing multiple factors at work and being kind to ourselves while we start to change things is very important.
Fatigue lethargy
Fatigue, the need to sleep, and lack of energy are common in depression. Some of this is because depression causes changes in chemicals in the brain that we need to have power. Norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine help us maintain energy levels and how we feel. We may want to be judgemental of ourselves initially or someone else for being lazy, shelved, or just slow. This may not be the case; without the proper levels of these chemicals, it may be tough to function thoroughly.
Many antidepressant medications work on these chemicals to help increase the levels and thus decrease fatigue. So medicines, in addition to therapy, often work to improve the sense of energy the fastest. Seeking medical intervention can be very helpful in finding the correct management plan. Again, changing how we see the situation and changing our self-talk to something more positive can also help lessen fatigue’s effects.
Physical Pain
Feeling achy and tired or feeling vague pain in many places can also indicate depression. Increases in stomach aches or headaches or just a sense of not feeling up to snuff can be symptoms of depression or of depression worsening. The chemicals in the brain that affect energy also affect how we feel pain. Norepinephrine serotine helps us to manage our pain as well as our fuel.
When we become depressed, how we interpret the pain can become changed. These chemical changes also affect the body’s inflammation level and how we feel. These same chemicals will also affect our ability to fight off illnesses, and then we may feel that we are always sick, so this can become self-perpetuating to think we are doomed to feel this way or be sick. Being aware of the changes we notice in how we feel in our bodies and our thoughts will go a long way to helping us find the best management of depression.
Irritability
Depression may often cause low-grade anger at everything. This may often show up as less tolerance for people or events. No patience when waiting in line and or attempting to do something. Becoming easily annoyed with things that previously did not bother you. This can set up a downward spiral of guilt and shame, which may lead to anger and feeling of not being good enough and not wanting to do things because they are too hard or it is not worth it. This spiral can be difficult to stop, and thus it can be self-perpetuating. Talking about feelings and recognizing what makes you angry is one way to help lower this irritability. Also, learning different or more effective coping skills for anger may be helpful. Depression has often been described as anger turned inward, and knowing how to deal with anger effectively may help you not turn it inward.
Weight changes
Weight changes, especially if someone is losing weight, are often seen as a good thing in our society, especially for women. However, losing weight because of depression is not helpful. Not eating may increase the risk of illness and not having the energy to complete tasks or fully concentrate on things.
Overeating may also show that this may be a reaction to comfort ourselves and feel better, however briefly. This may, however, also lead to increase irritability because we feel bad that we keep eating, or as we gain weight, we may not want to be around people as much. Then we may isolate ourselves, which will also perpetuate these feelings of inadequacy and shame guilt. Recognizing that food is something we need and is important to overall health may help change our feelings about food and weight. Also learning more about emotional eating and then asking what we are trying to feed can help change how we see food.
These are just a sample of symptoms of depression and some of the lesser-known symptoms.
Remembering that depression is complex and will affect each of us differently is essential. Becoming more mindful of how our bodies respond to things and noticing the small changes can significantly change how we feel about ourselves. Depression can affect us physically and emotionally, and recognizing differences early on is essential. Knowing ourselves is necessary to be able to help ourselves.
If you would like more information about depression or mental health and how speaking with a therapist may be helpful to change how you see yourself and the world, please go to the contact me page or schedule a free consultation to discuss any concerns you may have.
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” — Helen Keller
Begin Depression Treatment in Richmond, VA
Recognizing and overcoming depression is much easier said than done. I would be honored to provide therapy support across Virginia from my Powhatan, VA-based practice. You can start your therapy journey with Gray Horse Counseling by following these steps:
- Contact me and schedule a free consultation.
- Check out my FAQs and read more about me
- Start seeing the world in a better light!
Other Therapy Services Offered by Gray Horse Counseling
Depression therapy isn’t the only mental health service I offer. I am available for in-person help in Powhatan and online in Virginia. Other services at Gray Horse Counseling include individual therapy, anxiety therapy, group therapy, equine sports, clinical supervision, trauma therapy, and equine therapy. Check out my FAQs, read about me, and contact me today to get the help you deserve!