Stress & Wellness Consulting • Occupational & Clinical Psychology
Depression
People experience depression in many different ways. It can occur suddenly or gradually, and can vary in severity and symptoms. Some people may be able to do everything they usually do but feel less energy, pleasure or concentration. Others find it difficult to get out of bed, dress, eat and take care of themselves.
There is a range of effective treatments for depression including antidepressant medication. However, if taking medication, it is usually beneficial to combine it with psychological treatment to deal with the underlying problems. Psychotherapy for depression will help to process experiences, emotions, and behaviours that contributed to or in the cause of depression, and through that will help to resolve this difficult state. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depression_(mood)
Grief and Loss
Grief is a multi-faceted response to loss. It includes the emotion numbness, disbelief, separation, anxiety, despair, sadness, and loneliness that accompany the loss of someone or something loved. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioural, social, and philosophical dimensions.
Common to human experience is the death of a loved one, whether it is a friend, family, or other companion. While the terms are often used interchangeably, bereavement often refers to the state of loss, and grief to the reaction to loss.
Losses can range from loss of employment, pets, status, a sense of safety, order, or possessions, to the loss of loved ones. Our response to loss is varied and researchers have moved away from conventional views of grief (that is, that people move through an orderly and predictable series of responses to loss) to one that considers the wide variety of responses that are influenced by personality, family, culture, and spiritual and religious beliefs and practices.
Bereavement, while a normal part of life for us all, carries a degree of risk when limited support is available. Severe reactions to loss may carry over into familial relations and cause trauma for children, spouses and any other family members: there is an increased risk of marital break-up following the death of a child, for example.
Issues of personal faith and beliefs may also face challenge, as bereaved persons reassess personal definitions in the face of great pain. While many who grieve are able to work through their loss independently, accessing additional support from bereavement professionals may promote the process of healing.