The Funk of Depression

 

Depression tends to creep up on us insidiously – it can wheedle its way in unseen, after a series of stressful life events that we can easily dismiss as having any significance on our mood and beliefs. 

 

It affects us physiologically, with people describing crushing feelings of fatigue and lethargy – the sense of feeling too tired to do things, wanting to rest, move away from doing and trying to preserve energy. We find ourselves cutting corners and doing less of the things that we’d normally value doing. We find that we try to recharge more – and people can find themselves doing things like having sleeps in the day, stopping exercise, withdrawing from others. This can take us into a spiral as motivation begins to wane. 

 

Other bits come in to our funk – anxiety, irritation, anger, guilt and negative thinking about ourselves. We find ourselves reacting more and more to what is ‘normal’ daily life. We find it increasingly difficult to turn things around. 

 

One aspect of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is to look at behaviours. With the person, we look at what they are doing and the reasons for what they’re doing (it always makes sense). We help people develop an understanding of the impact of their behaviours on their mood. We know that waiting for motivation to return doesn’t work and we help nudge people back towards healthy ‘antidepressant’ behaviours so that it feels real and relevant. 

 

If you find yourself caught in a low mood, in a funk, and could do with some help to break this vicious cycle, contact us at enquiries@mood-wise.co.uk. We can help, it’s what we are trained to do.