Depression - Stress - Anxiety - Panic Attacks - Anger Management

I offer counseling and psychotherapy to those who suffer from depression, stress, anxiety and panic attacks, SAD, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and other mental health issues.

How do you know if you are depressed? What is the difference between grief and depression? Is sadness and depression the same thing? Gaining an understanding of how each of these is similar and different may be helpful to your healing process.

Depression often occurs when we suppress or deny our emotions such as sadness, anger, frustration, resentment. Emotions are meant to be felt. They give us clues about what is comfortable and uncomfortable in our life. Emotions are not good or bad they just are. We are meant to listen to and feel our emotions so that we can move on. When we hold on to emotions and refuse to let them go, they build up inside of us often creating health problems such as headaches, stomachaches. We may feel numb or stuck. We often confuse the feeling of an emotion with the action that results. We may deny our anger because we associate feeling anger with violence or we fear that if we express anger others will stop liking or loving us.

Sadness is a natural emotion that comes with loss, disappointment, grief. It comes and goes. It may be felt for a short or long time, appropriate to the particular event or circumstance- you have plans to meet a friend and she cancels at the last minute; a pet runs away or is lost; someone you know is hurt or dies; you interview for a job, but do not get it. After an appropriate amount of time the sadness dissipates and you are ready to move on.

Grief is a natural emotion that we experience after a loss, trauma, or during and after a terminal illness of someone we love. Denial, sadness, anger, loneliness, confusion, and other emotions are typically experienced as a part of the grief process. There is no set time for grief to linger, but it should ease over time. Finding supportive friends and a grief support grief can be helpful. Trying to push through grief too quickly and not allowing yourself to experience the emotions of grief may turn into depression or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

What are the Symptoms of Depression?
For major depression, you may experience five or more of the following for at least a two-week period:

Some of the most recognized symptoms of depression include a profound feeling of sadness or loss of interest. You may be surprised to learn that people with depression often experience a broad range of other symptoms.

In general, if you've been experiencing some combination of the following emotional, physical, or associated symptoms of depression for more than two weeks, and they clearly interfere with your life, discuss your concerns with a professional.

Don't let this list of symptoms scare you. Treatments and therapies are available to help with the symptoms of depression.

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Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric anxiety disorder that includes distressing, intrusive thoughts and related compulsions (tasks or "rituals") to neutralize the obsessions. Obsessions are usually upsetting and the compulsions lead to temporary feelings of relief. To be diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, one must have either obsessions or compulsions alone, or obsessions and compulsions together, but most people with OCD have both.

Symptoms of experiencing Obsessions include . . .

Symptoms of experiencing Compulsions include . . .

In addition, at some point during the course of the disorder, the person must realize that his/her obsessions or compulsions are unreasonable or excessive, which is why people with OCD are not considered to be detached from reality or psychotic. The obsessions or compulsions must be time-consuming, taking up more than one hour per day, cause distress, or cause difficulty in social, work, or school functioning. Having OCD is stressful and can lead to feelings of hopelessness and depression.

Behavioral Therapy (BT) - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is the first line treatment for OCD. The specific technique used in BT/CBT is called exposure and ritual prevention (also known as "exposure and response prevention") or ERP. This involves gradually learning to tolerate the anxiety associated with not performing the ritual behavior.

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Less daylight during the fall and winter causes depression (sometimes called the "winter blues") in some people. This disrupts our internal body clock leading to depressive symptoms. If you have had episodes of depression that clearly have an onset in fall or winter followed by remission of symptoms in the spring or summer, you may have SAD. Other factors contributing to seasonal affective disorder (SAD) may include genetics and age. We know that neurochemicals are involved in the regulation of our mood and functioning. Melatonin and serotonin levels are thought to be contributing factors.

What are the Symptoms of SAD - Seasonal Affective Disorder?
The symptoms of SAD (winter depression - winter blues) can closely mirror the symptoms of clinical depression with the exception that they come on with the shortening winter days and go away with the lengthening days of spring:

The counseling and therapy techniques used for depression are also used for the symptoms of depression in SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). If you are experiencing symptoms, it is important to take good care of yourself and not ignore the symptoms. Self-care includes doing all the usual things: healthy diet, avoiding too much alcohol (a depressant) and exercise such as getting out in the fresh air for a walk. You also may want to investigate full spectrum lighting - tanning is recommended by some doctors. Increasing your intake of Vitamin D is helpful. If you are typically a person who takes care of everyone else it may be time to take better care of yourself and stop worrying about everyone else.

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Anxiety affects everyone at some level. We get stressed and we rush around. In spite of our technological advances that make our life "easier," we don't seem to be free from the stress factor. Stress and anxiety can really move in a direction than can be quite scary. We may not even know that we are experiencing anxiety. A third of everyone will suffer from some kind of anxiety disorder. Traumatic experiences can lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - often more severe and chronic than occasional anxiety and stress. How do we know we have an anxiety disorder?

You may experience some of these symptoms or possibility all of them. Feelings of embarrassment and shame come up for people as they talk about their thinking and episodes. Sometimes we can have bizarre or irrational thoughts. This sometimes compounds the issue making it a private problem and keeping us from reaching out for help and support.

There is a Solution to Anxiety . . .
If you are suffering from panic attacks and anxiety, you need to know you can and will get better if you take certain steps. When we are spinning in the vortex of self-doubt and losing control, it is important to know there is something you can do. Recovery comes with time. Before we look at the steps from recovery, let us look at the mental, emotional and physiological sides of anxiety.

The Emotional Side of Anxiety . . .
Fear is a good thing. It is a God-given emotion that tells us something is dangerous in our environment. It can be used to help keep from poor choices. It is when our lives are ruled by fear that is when it becomes a problem. With Generalized Anxiety Disorder

The Physiology of Anxiety . . .
While anxiety has a lot to do with one's thinking and spirituality, it also has to do with our bodies.

One physical aspect of anxiety involves centers in the brain called basal ganglia. These centers deal with fear and fine motor skills. When we experience panic or extreme anxiety, these centers become over-active. We may predict the worst, become shaky and become too sensitive to body functions. We feel and experience too much. We feel our heart beating. We are too aware. This is useful if we were in a situation where we need to escape from a real danger. People who have had a panic attack will do everything they can not to experience another one. It feels like certain death and loss of control. It is the over-control that can actually make the condition worse.

Anxiety can also be triggered by obsessive thinking. These thoughts usually are repetitive and difficult to redirect. We might worry about our health, germs, or disease. We might experience intrusive thoughts about hurting someone or ourselves. Fear of what people are going to think about us and worry about losing control are also classic symptom of anxiety.

It is important to know that people do and recover from anxiety. The first step is to find someone "safe" to share your feelings and what has happened. Talking with someone can help us gain perspective and realize that this will pass.

Deep Breathing and Meditation . . .
Believe it or not, deep breathing and relaxation are very beneficial to recovering from panic disorder and anxiety. It is very difficult for the person who already experiences anxiety to "calm themselves down." It usually takes a counselor or someone who knows the process of progressive relaxation. Just by giving yourself something else to think about, can be the beginning steps to walking out of a panic attack. How many people feel the relief in just knowing they have Xanax (an anti-anxiety medication) to take. It is knowing what to do that helps. Progressive relaxation involves counting, breathing and tightening/relaxing certain muscle groups. For Christians, having a certain prayer or passage from the psalms to meditate is not only connecting with God, but also gets the mind off of the panicky thoughts.

Another element that people with anxiety struggle with is the need to feel in control. The irony is that the more they think that they control, the more out of control they are. We try to control people, places, and situations.

The irony is that we often try to control the things we don't have control over, which are "people, places and things" and yet we have learned to control what we can. We can change how we respond to live, rather than "re-act." Many who have been traumatized in their past, have structural differences to overcome in their brains. Brain scans demonstrate this. We can train ourselves to think differently and more realistically.

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Counseling and Therapy . . .

In recovery from anxiety, we work on "letting go," and changing irrational belief systems. The process of counseling can be helpful to help the client let go of negative beliefs and to think more healthy thoughts. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy which involves changing negative beliefs or irrational beliefs into more healthier beliefs. This is a process and once the thinking has changed, the panic usually doesn't come back. One can learn about themselves in this process. The whole crisis once it is over can become a real blessing which has developed muscles to handle life better by letting go more.

Medication can be useful for debilitating anxiety to help a person begin to feel better so that they can work on their thinking and lifestyle patterns that are causing the anxiety. It is important for the person to go beyond just wanting to "feel" better, but to "get" better. Pain can motivate us to work on our salvation process. Unfortunately, once the pain is gone, sometimes so is the motivation to "get" better, that is to really have a change of heart.

One may need to prioritize and not do too many things. One may need to look at what is happening in their spiritual life. Letting go of fear is the beginning of wisdom. Perfect love can cast out fear. As we progress in our healing from fear through love, we gain freedom from fear.

Talk Therapy typically means that you spend about an hour a week talking with a mental health professional. Treatment can continue for several weeks or up to one to two years. Every person's situation is different. Depression and anxiety can negatively affect the way you think and feel. Talk therapy can help you learn to treat your depression and anxiety to help relieve your symptoms.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can help you identify and change the thought and behavior patterns that contribute to depression and anxiety. People who are depressed and anxious tend to think negatively, and cognitive behavioral therapy teaches you how to identify and challenge the negative thoughts. Behaviour therapy, or Behavior Therapy (BT) - behavior modification is an approach to psychotherapy based on learning theory which aims to treat psychopathology through techniques designed to reinforce desired and eliminate undesired behaviors. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a psychotherapeutic approach that aims to teach the person new skills, on how to solve problems concerning dysfunctional emotions, behaviors and cognitions through a goal-oriented, systematic procedure. The title is used in diverse ways to designate behavior therapy, cognitive therapy, and to refer to therapy based upon a combination of basic behavioral and cognitive research. This approach is usually done in short-term therapy, and has been found to be particularly helpful for depression and anxiety.

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