Understanding What Depression Really Is: Symptoms and Holistic Insights
Despite depression being one of the more well-known mental health struggles, many of us don’t really know what depression truly is and what it means to be living with depression.
Depression is deemed a mental health disorder by the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) and mainstream mental health. The DSM characterizes depression by a variety of symptoms that generally fall into 4 categories - emotional, cognitive, physical and behavioral. Check out the list below to see how depression manifests in the human body and psyche:
Emotional Symptoms:
Persistent sadness, anxiety or empty mood
Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism
Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness
Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities once enjoyed
Mood swings, including irritability or frustration
Feeling emotionally flat or “blah”
Tearfulness or frequent crying spells
Cognitive Symptoms (mental actions):
Difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions
Persistent thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts
Negative thoughts and/or view of oneself and one’s future
Physical Symptoms:
Changes in appetite, over or under eating, weight loss or weight gain unrelated to dieting or another health condition
Insomnia or oversleeping
Restlessness or slowed movements
Fatigue or loss of energy
Aches or pains, headaches, cramps or digestive problems without a clear physical cause and that do not ease even with medical treatment
Loss of libido or decreased sexual desire
Behavioral symptoms:
Social withdrawal or isolation
Reduced participation in work, school or other activities
Neglect of personal responsibilities and self-care
Use of substances such as marijuana, alcohol or other drugs to cope
Slowed speech and/or movement
Increased sensitivity to rejection or failure
Oooof! Let’s take a moment to acknowledge how depression makes living and functioning incredibly difficult and exhausting. Let’s move forward with compassion in our hearts for ourselves and those we care about who are living with depression.
As holistic therapists, we don’t think of depression as a disorder but rather as an emotional, psychological and nervous system state that people get stuck in due to repressed emotions.
Think about it…depression literally means to depress something, i.e. to push something down. So…what’s getting pushed down when we are speaking about depression? Emotions. Emotions are what’s getting pushed down which is why many people who are depressed feel so flat or “blah”.
You might be wondering why? Why would someone push down their emotions if it leads to such a painful and debilitating existence?
Often there are a confluence of factors that contribute to the development of depression, but to simplify things, depression essentially stems from not having a safe environment where you could feel and express your true emotions i.e. be your true self.
In the United States our culture is emotionally phobic so those of us that grew up here and live here present day have been socialized (aka trained) to repress our emotions. Many of us also grew up in homes where it wasn’t safe to express our emotions, instead we heard things like, “Go to your room until you calm down!” or “Stop crying, or I’ll give you something to cry about!”. In our public school system kids are expected to sit quietly and pay attention for 8 hours a day and when bursts of excitement or frustration come through their bodies they may get scolded by the teacher or put in a corner by themselves.
These are just a few examples of emotionally unsafe environments (there are many ways in which power, privilege and oppression create unsafe environments as well, but that is a whole topic in itself for another time). Long story short, the environments many of us grew up in were not, and in many ways are still not, conducive to feeling and expressing one’s true emotions.
So…instead of being our full selves we learn what’s expected of us, what’s acceptable, what ways of being allow us to maintain connection and belonging, and we do that. This is the other piece to depression - feeling pressured to put on a mask that’s acceptable and enjoyable to others. To put out that you’re functioning and normal and happy and grateful…it’s like playing a character in your life vs. truly being yourself. And it’s exhausting and painful.
When we can’t express our true feelings they become repressed and build up like plaque internally. This build up of unprocessed emotions causes autonomic nervous system dysregulation and the nervous system of a person living with depression often gets stuck in a protective state called hypoarousal.
A hypo-aroused state in the nervous system or body is a protective state of collapse or shut down. It’s a way of protecting that person from the emotions that have built up inside because the inner system has been shown that it’s not safe to feel, process or express those emotions. When the nervous system gets stuck in hypoarousal there isn’t enough energy in the body so a person will feel tired, disconnected, flat and will lack energy to do things amongst other symptoms.
We share all this about depression because we want you and others to know it’s not your fault. Many folks who have depression also struggle with being ashamed of having depression. It’s the, “Why can’t I just be normal, live life and be happy like everyone else?” story. The reality is, you and others aren’t choosing to be depressed. Your nervous system is keeping you in a state of protection because it was never safe for you to feel and express your emotions and needs.
AND! We want you to know that it is possible to retrain and rewire your inner system to know that it’s okay and safe to feel, express and process emotions and that doing so will give you back your energy, allow you to feel more engaged in your life and relationships and ultimately feel like you again - present, confident and empowered!
Sounds good huh? Feel free to reach out at any time to schedule a free consultation with us and stay tuned here on Brave Embodiment’s blog to learn about the 4 different types of depression and to see why inner child healing is particularly effective for depression.
Connect with us for a free consultation by filling out the form on our contact page or call us at 720-923-3033.