Depressive mood and sadness are something different from depression. It is important to distinguish them.

If your sad feelings are a reaction to a recent difficult event in your life, for example, loosing a close person, death of somebody who’s important for you, divorce, leaving your home or place you felt secure in, moving to a different place and leaving your friends or family, loosing your job, wellbeing, security or something connected with your self-esteem – you may not have a depression, but have temporary adaptation difficulties or it may be a normal reaction to a sad event. In this case, there may be no need for psychotherapeutic treatment, because vivid emotions are a part of human life, even if not all of them are pleasant. Of course if you feel you need help, you know yourself for the longest period of time, so up to a point, you are the best expert of your own feelings. Please feel free also in such a case to contact me and arrange an appointment, during which you will receive support, empathetic understanding and we will decide what can be best for you.

In case you often experience sadness and gloomy feelings with no particular reason, you have no willingness to live, you lost your ability to feel pleasure, your interests have faded and little or almost nothing can interest you, and your attention focuses mostly o the feeling of hopelessness of your life and yourself, we may speak of depression. Prolonged depression may start becoming a part of your character, just like low self-esteem and a feeling of hopelessness of life can become a part of one’s way of living. Moreover, other than depressive types of thinking, feeling and perceiving reality can become alien. The apathy may overwhelm you to such an extent, that reaching out for help may be made more difficult. In such a case making a phone call in order to set up a visit to a psychologist, and leaving home may become quite a challenge. However, this challenge, if taken up, gives hope for a better life and may be a beginning of your change. Such a change may help you get out of your gloomy mood and begin to live a happier and more satisfactory life.

Author: Agnieszka Guzowska