Anxiety & Depression

Anxiety & Depression: Most people during the course of their lifetime will experience some form of depression or anxiety. Sometimes it will be short lived and for others a more chronic condition, impacting on home life, school and work life.

Depression when untreated has the capacity to keep us stuck in the past with feelings of resentment, regret, shame, guilt and remorse. When anxiety is untreated and begins to rule our lives, we become consumed with fears and concerns that may significantly restrict our lives. Both anxiety and depression contribute to losing contact with the present moment and the things that you value in life.

Depression and anxiety and are the most common difficulties that bring people into treatment. Although depression may stem from a variety of factors, it tends to develop when we get preoccupied with the past. This generally takes the form of wishing the past could have been different or questioning why we acted or failed to act in certain ways.

 

Depressed Feelings:

 

Anxiety/ Social Anxiety

Anxiety is often a manifestation of repressed feelings such as fear and anger and difficulty with being in the present moment. Anxiety ranges in types from social anxiety, generalised anxiety to panic attacks or full blown PTSD. Most addictions are rooted in anxiety. People often feel the need to self medicate in order to avoid or deny overwhelming emotions.

Some of the symptoms of anxiety are as follows:

• Constant worrying and nervousness
• Obsessive thinking and over analyzing
• Feelings of being overwhelmed
• Difficulty in paying attention, being present, or remembering things
• Being constantly preoccupied about the future or the past
• Overreacting

Common signs of teenage depression

Sometimes teenage depression might be hard to spot. But there are some common thoughts, emotions, behaviours and physical changes that are signs of depression.

Thinking signs

• Have trouble concentrating and solving everyday problems
• Find it hard to make decisions
• Seem forgetful and have trouble remembering information
• Have negative thoughts that are hard to change or ignore, including thoughts about self-harm, death or suicide – they may say, ‘Life’s not worth living’ or ‘I can’t do this anymore’.

Emotional and behavioural signs: 

• Feel sad, tearful, moody or irritable – ‘empty’ or ‘numb’
• Not be interested in or not enjoy activities that they used to like
• Have angry outbursts that are out of character
• Feel worthless, or feel guilty and blame themselves for things – common statements are, ‘It’s all my fault’ or ‘I’m a failure’
• Stop contacting or seeing friends or going to social activities – for example, your child might not want to go to a friend’s party, or your child might say that they feel lonely.

Physical signs 

• Feel tired, unmotivated or low in energy
• Be eating too little or overeating, which is causing changes in their weight
• Have vague or unexplained physical problems – for example, stomach aches, nausea or headaches
• Have sleeping problems – for example, insomnia, oversleeping or staying in bed for most of the day
• Not feel rested after sleep.

You might have more than one sign of depression. The signs might be ongoing, or they might seem to come and go over a period of weeks or even months.

School problems or behaviour changes can hide an underlying mental health problem. That’s why it’s important to seek help if you have any concerns or concerns about your child’s emotions or behaviour, contact us.