Depression

Treatment For

Depression and Hypnotherapy

We all feel low from time to time. Often, this will quickly ease and we’ll go back to feeling like our usual selves. For some people, however, this low mood persists and affects everyday life. Here, we’ll look at how depression can affect us and how hypnotherapy for depression can help.

Depression is a direct link to your sense of self-worth and is often driven by the unreasonable belief that you are ‘not good enough’. Depression can be debilitating if you or a loved one has been suffering from this for a while.

Depression creates chemical changes in our physiology, the source normally originates emotionally such as childhood trauma or unresolved grief. There are other triggers too – if as adults we have experienced a series of negative, stressful, or damaging events, we can go through what we call a ‘negative threshold’ which makes us withdraw, feeling unable to cope further.

t’s like a subconscious shut-down and is our body’s way of protecting us from more emotional pain. It can also be caused by repressed anger,

which is the subconscious mind’s way of telling you, in fact shouting to you, that there are unresolved emotional issues that require your attention.

What is depression?

Depression is when you have a low mood for a long time, making it difficult for you to carry out your usual everyday activities. The condition can affect you in different ways and may be mild, severe or somewhere in between. The level of severity will depend on how much depression is interfering with your life.

There are different forms of depression, these include:

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) – This is when depression affects you at certain times of the year.
Dysthymia – This is when you have had mild depression continuously for over two years. It is also called chronic depression or persistent depressive disorder.
Bipolar disorder – This is when you experience extreme lows and extreme highs (known as manic episodes).
Prenatal depression – This is when depression happens during pregnancy.
Postnatal depression (PND) – This is when depression happens after having a baby. It usually affects the mother, but fathers can experience it too.

Depression is common. According to the Mental Health Foundation, it’s the predominant mental health problem worldwide. Thankfully, though, there are many treatment options available.

Why am I depressed?

The causes of depression will differ from person to person. Often the reasons are complex and there may be multiple factors at play. Some of the most common causes however include:

Childhood experiences

Certain experiences in your childhood can make you more vulnerable to depression as an adult. You may have experienced trauma, abuse, bereavement or even had an unstable family environment. All of these situations can affect your mental health and make it more likely for you to experience depression.

Life events

In some cases, depression can be triggered by a particular event. You may have ended a relationship, lost someone close to you or lost your job. Major life changes like moving, getting married and changing jobs can lead to depression, too.

Mental or physical health problems

Sometimes other mental health conditions can cause depression. Anxiety, eating disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are some of the most commonly linked conditions. If you struggle with your physical health or if you have chronic pain, you may also find this affects your mood and triggers depression.

Genetic factors

Research shows that if a member of your family has depression, you’re more likely to develop the condition yourself. This could be linked to genetic and biological factors, or it may be down to learned behaviours.

Substance abuse

Drinking or taking drugs may feel like a good way to feel better, but they can often make your mental health worse. See our page on addiction to learn more.

Lifestyle

Certain lifestyle changes can affect your mood, including how much you sleep, what you eat and how much physical activity you get. While these factors alone won’t cause depression, they can make you more likely to develop it.

Other causes

Some medication side-effects include depression and some physical health problems (such as hormone issues) can cause depression. Always be sure to visit your doctor to get a diagnosis and to check for underlying causes.

How does hypnotherapy help with depression?

Another treatment option to manage and overcome depression is hypnotherapy. This approach works on a subconscious level. It uses techniques to identify and address the root causes while offering positive suggestions to break negative thinking patterns.

Rather than treat the symptoms of depression, hypnotherapy aims to tackle the triggers that lead to your depression so you can unpick it and move on.

Hypnotherapy can dismantle the beliefs you have acquired, and brings positive changes in behaviours making for a happier life.