WOMEN'S HEALTH
How Depression and Anxiety Get Ignored
People may have heard the question in the beginning phases of therapy: what is going on that you are now seeking therapy? Of course, the answer can vary from exhausting tools to help elevate the presenting problem to not knowing what is happening. As a clinician, a common challenge I see clients face is the lengths they go to keep themselves from seeking care when they are struggling with their mental health. Surprisingly, some were unaware of their emotional or mental state to recognize anything was wrong.
"Now that we are becoming empowered and aware let’s be proactive and practice unthinking that walking around with open wounds is a badge of honor or strength."
Several narratives people use have been studied that keep them in the space of not appropriately attending to their mental health, including:
- not recognizing symptoms
- feeling embarrassed or ashamed to seek help.
- afraid of being judged or discriminated against
- societal and cultural stigma
- denying or minimizing struggles
- holding the belief that struggling is the antithesis of being strong.
Often, clients seek help once they have reached a point where taking another step seems impossible. At this point, psychoeducation becomes an integral part of the treatment plan, as well as exploring the thoughts surrounding their decision to wait. The other challenge clinicians face is the spread of misinformation from social media about mental health because more people accept pop psychological or pseudo-psychological information. In diagnosing, most clinicians ensure they exercise clinical judgment based on clients’ backgrounds and the context of what is being reported because some symptoms can be deemed understandable in each situation.
Depression
So, how do you know if you have depression? First, it is essential to know that you can feel sad without being depressed. As a therapist, I encourage normalizing the experience of feeling sad without it needing to be pathological or a sign of something sinister. Plus, situational circumstances make feeling sadness appropriate or, in a clinical sense, experienced “within normal limits.”
Depression occurs when an individual experiences five or more of the following symptoms during the same two-week period: depressed mood (sadness), emptiness, hopelessness, helplessness, loss of pleasure, significant weight loss/gain, or increase or decrease in appetite (when unintentionally dieting), insomnia or hypersomnia every day, restlessness, feeling worthlessness, inability to concentrate or indecisiveness, low energy, or reoccurring thoughts of death of suicidal ideation.
Anxiety
Like recognizing the contextual difference between sadness and depressive disorder, the same goes for feeling anxious and having generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Experiences outside of typical circumstances mark the disorders. So, will you feel nervous when giving a speech, going into an interview, or taking a text? Yes. We also take the intensity, frequency, and length of time each client has experienced anxiousness.
With generalized anxiety disorder, a person experiences three or more symptoms, including excessive anxiety and worrying thoughts (anticipatory or apprehensive expectation) for more days for at least six months within several events or activities. This also includes difficulties managing worrying thoughts, restlessness, easily fatigued, irritability, difficulty concentrating, muscle tension, and difficulty falling or staying asleep. Excessive symptoms will interfere with a person’s ability to function in important areas of their lives.
How to Handle Depression/Anxiety
Is it possible to meet the criteria but seemingly suppress or minimize your symptoms? Yes. A form of emotional or mental minimization is telling yourself you must be strong and cannot ‘afford to be sad.’ If you have any of the symptoms above and notice a change in your response to your everyday life, see a professional immediately.
Sometimes, you can see a professional to evaluate your symptoms and then collaboratively decide if seeking treatment is best for you. We must put to rest dysfunctional narratives that perpetuate the cycle of dismissing ourselves and our needs. If you are struggling and are aware of it, speak with someone to see what can be done. We cannot say life comes with struggles and then pretend we are not struggling. Now that we are becoming empowered and aware let’s be proactive and practice unthinking that walking around with open wounds is a badge of honor or strength.