What Keeps Depression Going?
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Offers theory, guidance, and prompts for mental health professionals. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.
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Introduction & Theoretical Background
Everyone feels 'down' from time to time, but when you are depressed, your low mood can last for weeks at a time. While mild depression might not stop you from living your life, severe depression can make you feel suicidal and unable to function normally. Common symptoms of depression include:
- Feeling dejected or down for most of the time.
- Taking less interest in things that interested you before.
- Feeling fatigued or tired.
- Sleeping too much or too little.
- Feeling worthless, guilty, or very self-critical.
- Feeling indecisive or unable to concentrate.
- Thinking often of death or suicide, behaving suicidally, or harming yourself.
- Eating too little or too much.
- Feeling agitated, unable to sit still, or moving and speaking more slowly than normal.
Research studies have shown that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective treatments for depression (Cuikpers et al, 2020). CBT therapists work a bit
Therapist Guidance
“One interesting way of thinking about depression is to look at why, for some people, it does not get better by itself. This handout shows some of the most common reasons why some people’s depression persists. I wonder if we could look at it together and think about whether it describes what is happening for you?”
References And Further Reading
- Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive Therapy of Depression. New York: Guilford press.