Anxiety and depression are among the most common reasons people seek therapy. This is because both anxiety and depression cause a host of painful symptoms, many of which have entered the mainstream, either through the media, through politics, or through the growing number of laws dedicated to improving accessibility to mental health care. Certainly, anxiety and depression can no longer be said to carry the same shameful stigmas that they used to. And, both are highly amenable to therapy.
A person who suffers from anxiety has a constant anticipation that something bad will happen. Anxiety, therefore, creates profound distress which is usually not amenable to attempts at self-regulation or self-soothing. When anxiety becomes more severe, it can lead to anxiety attacks, in which a person suffers palpitations, sweating, phobias, and a real and terrifying fear of dying. Many things can trigger the kind of anxiousness that requires therapy, including trauma, abuse and other serious medical conditions.
Depression, another of the most widely cited reasons for seeking therapy, causes persistent sadness, low self-esteem, poor appetite or overeating, sleep disturbances, fatigue, and feelings of hopelessness. It can lead to isolation, conflict, substance abuse and physical distress. Depression can be triggered by a major life event such as loss or injury or the birth of a child, or by a more subtle shift in circumstances, such as the recall of a previously repressed, painful memory.
Both anxiety and depression can also be the source of additional problems, such as uncontrollable anger, self-mutilating or other self-destructive behaviors, as well as a sense of profound loneliness. Tragically, anxious or depressed individuals sometimes hold onto a false belief that their longings for comfort are stupid or childish.
Anxiety and depression are highly amenable to therapy. Since good therapy begins by providing compassionate human understanding, therapy can alleviate the loneliness and terror that often make these two disorders so painful. Severe forms of either disorder may also require medication, in addition to the support from a sensitive professional. |