Depression Counselling

Depression Counselling: Understanding and Overcoming Low Mood

If you find yourself trapped in a persistent state of sadness or experience a significant decline in your mood, you may be suffering with depression. At Reflexions, our specialised depression counselling in Newcastle and online offers you a safe space to navigate low mood and to work towards a brighter outlook.

Depression is a widespread condition that affects approximately one in five individuals at some point in their lives.

Often linked to anxiety and lack of drive, depression casts a dark cloud over both your well-being and relationships. However, with therapeutic support, it is possible to regain control of your emotions and rediscover the joy in your life.

Identifying Common Symptoms in Depression Counselling:

Depression manifests itself in various ways, and recognising the symptoms is an essential step towards seeking help. Some common indicators of depression include:

1. Persistent Sadness or Emptiness: Feeling consistently down and unable to shake off the negative emotions.
2. Loss of Interest and Libido: Losing enthusiasm for activities that once brought pleasure, including a decreased interest in intimacy.
3. Difficulty Making Decisions: Struggling to make even simple choices, as if your ability to reason has been clouded.
4. Inability to Cope: Finding it increasingly challenging to handle tasks or situations that were once manageable.
5. Fatigue and Exhaustion: Experiencing a lack of energy and feeling constantly drained.
6. Frequent Crying: Shedding tears more frequently, even in response to minor triggers.
7. Irritability and Restlessness: Feeling agitated, restless, or easily annoyed.
8. Appetite and Sleep Disturbances: Experiencing significant changes in appetite, resulting in either weight loss or gain. Similarly, sleep patterns may be disrupted, leading to difficulty falling asleep or excessive sleeping.

While occasional bouts of sadness are part of life’s ups and downs – and often the result of ordinary life events – depression goes beyond temporary blues. It can become an obstacle that makes everyday life seem overwhelming. It is important to recognise that depression is a serious condition that affects not only the person experiencing it but also those that care about them.

Exploring Treatment Options for Low Mood:

Why do you stay in prison when the door is wide open?

Jalal ad-Din Rumi, Persian poet and mystic

When it comes to addressing low mood, several treatment approaches can be considered:

1. Pharmacology: Although its effectiveness is debated by some experts, in practice prescribed medication does seem to work for some individuals. In particular, it can help to stabilise some individuals, reducing symptoms in the short term, and so for those people it can work effectively alongside therapy. It is advisable to consult with your GP to discuss medication.
2. Depression Counselling: Talking therapies, such as counselling, have proven to be highly effective, particularly when cognitive-behavioral techniques (CBT) are employed.
3. Rhythmic Exercise: Engaging in aerobic and rhythmic exercises, such as jogging or swimming, can significantly contribute to improving your mood, either as a standalone practice or in conjunction with other treatments. Find an exercise routine that resonates with you and supports your overall well-being.

At Reflexions we work in an integrative manner. This means our depression counsellors will apply the techniques that we use in a way suited to you. Whilst we will certainly work with you behaviouraly  (The B in CBT), and work with your thinking (The C in CBT), the therapy (The T part in CBT) will also help you to deal with your emotional side.

How Depression Therapy Can Help:

Collaborating with a skilled counsellor or psychotherapist for your depression can offer numerous benefits and provide you with tools for long-term well-being. We believe that a combination of techniques learnt with a counsellor will together combine to pull you through, and out of, depression. This is now being supported by some of the new research. Here’s how counselling for depression, offered in an integrative way at Reflexions, can help:

1. Exploring the Cause of Depressed Emotions: Together with your therapist, you can delve into the underlying factors contributing to your depression. Identifying and understanding these causes is a crucial step towards finding effective solutions.
2. Developing Strategies to Combat Low Moods: Depression therapy equips you with practical techniques to counteract and manage your low moods. These strategies empower you to regain control over your emotional state.
3. Examining Thoughts and Behaviours: By examining your thoughts and behaviours that contribute to your low mood, therapy enables you to challenge negative patterns and adopt healthier perspectives.
4. Learning Long-Term Techniques: Depression therapy provides you with a repertoire of techniques that will serve you not only during the therapy process but also throughout your life. These tools become a valuable resource to navigate future challenges and maintain emotional well-being.

Reflecting on Depression:

As Richard O’Connor beautifully put it, “Depression is not just an illness, but a failure of creativity.” “Creativity is the antithesis of depression. It is a way of saying that what I think and feel matters“. Therapy nurtures creativity and fosters the belief that your thoughts and feelings are important. In so doing, you are invited to make deliberate efforts to make your self “fertile”, to create new growth, creating meaning in your life again.

The Next Step for Depression Counselling:

At Reflexions Counselling and Psychotherapy, we are committed to providing compassionate support to help you to work through your depression, whether it manifests as a deep sense of darkness or simply a “blue” feeling. Our therapeutic approach is supportive, non-judgmental, and tailored to your specific needs.

As the video implies, don’t lose hope. Therapy is a positive, helpful route to getting back to enjoying life again. If you are struggling with depression, contact us and arrange to talk to one of our therapists about depression counselling in Newcastle – Phone 01915805080 or email

Self Help for Depression:

Overcoming Depression – A self-help guide. Gilbert, P (2000). This provides practical ways of controlling depression and low mood with step-by-step guides to cope with depression, supported by case studies. Quite fat book with a lot of detail.
Royal College of Psychiatrists
Good, clear information about depression, and treatment options. Worth a read. There’s a handout on here too
NHS Depression
NHS information on Clinical Depression. Some good links and resources.
Mood Juice
NHS Scotland self-help guide for depression.
Reflexions Depression and Anxiety Assessment Tool
An assessment which measures symptom severity for anxiety and depression.
Depression Alliance
Charitable organisation for sufferers of depression. Includes self-help groups.
Mind: Understanding depression
Organisation which supports and provides a voice for people with mental health problems.
Tel: 0300 123 3393 (Mon – Fri, 9am to 6pm)
Young Minds
Resources focussing on young people and the people who can help them with their mental health.
Headway
A charitable group providing support for brain injuries.