Depression and anxiety are common mental health issues.
Depression is a mood disorder that includes loss of interest or pleasure in activities, withdrawal from others, low self-esteem, guilt or worthlessness, and difficulty concentrating on tasks and remembering details.
Anxiety is the anticipation of future events, with thoughts and feelings related to these events.
Psychotherapy is an umbrella term referring to a range of talk-based therapies for mental health disorders that can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. Examples include cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and psychodynamic psychotherapy (PPT).
Numerous studies have shown that psychotherapy can effectively treat depression and anxiety. Psychotherapy involves talking to a trained mental health professional about, amongst other things, emotional matters, memories, thoughts, concerns, symptoms, traumas, and relationships.
Depending on the type of therapy, the therapist might help the client identify negative thoughts or behaviours (CBT), work through historical events, or gain insight into relational and psychological patterns contributing to symptoms of depression or anxiety (PPT).
Here are six more ways psychotherapy can help with depression and anxiety
1. Psychotherapy Helps you Learn to Manage Feelings.
Managing emotions is an essential part of dealing with depression. Psychotherapy is a safe, non-judgmental environment where you can accept feelings without punishment. It can improve feelings of low self-worth, shame, guilt and worthlessness, so they no longer cause problems. In addition, psychotherapy can help you learn to manage anxiety and develop improved coping skills to deal with things that used to be overwhelming.
A growing body of research shows that, with psychotherapy, it is possible to change negative automatic thoughts and behaviors by changing how you think about them. Search the web for “qualified psychologists near me” to find a psychologist, psychiatrist, or other mental health therapist in your area.
2. Psychotherapy Helps you Overcome Harmful Thoughts
Many people with depression and anxiety experience intrusive thoughts. These are negative thoughts that are upsetting, distressing and frightening.
Most people with depression experience negative thoughts about themselves. Many tend to feel envious, angry and resentful of other people. These thoughts contribute to one’s negative mood and reduce the quality of their relationships.
Psychotherapy helps you to understand these thoughts better and learn how to manage them more constructively. It can also help overcome thoughts of self-harm, suicide and isolation.
3. Psychotherapy can Help you Identify Triggers
A trigger is something that causes your anxiety to rise. Triggers can be a person or situation that brings back memories of past trauma. Some triggers result in increased heart rate, shortness of breath, nausea or feelings of panic.
Some common triggers include emotional events such as a breakup, job loss, traumatic reminders, or family health problems.
Psychotherapy will help reduce your reaction to upsetting triggers. It can help you recognize situations that trigger a rise in anxiety symptoms and may offer ways for you to behave differently when they do happen. Identifying your triggers can help you cope with them and manage your emotions better.
4. Helps Boost Self-esteem
Psychotherapy helps you understand and accept your strengths and weaknesses. It helps you identify ways to improve yourself and what people need from you. This helps to boost self-esteem.
Low self-esteem is an underlying factor in depression, and psychotherapy can help to improve this.
Low self-esteem can result in negative thoughts about yourself, affecting your mood.
Working with a therapist can help you develop a realistic outlook on life and boost your self-worth and confidence.
5. Psychotherapy can Help you Move on From a Broken Relationship
Many people experience depression caused by a broken relationship. Psychotherapy helps you gain insight into your feelings and behaviour that led to the breakup. This can help you change how you communicate and relate to others.
Psychotherapy enables you to learn about yourself and your emotional needs so you can develop healthier relationships in the future. It also helps you heal from the breakup by allowing you to express and work through emotions like anger, loss, humiliation, and shame.
6. Psychotherapy can Help you Identify Healthy Coping Mechanisms
Psychotherapy helps you identify and apply healthy coping mechanisms to deal with stressful situations. It enables you to develop relaxation techniques, mindfulness and meditation. Psychotherapy also promotes a sense of self-compassion, which is the ability to accept your flaws and mistakes.
With cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), you may be able to overcome false beliefs that contribute to depression or anxiety, such as a belief that your problems are permanent and not fixable.
Psychodynamic psychotherapy helps you to understand and address the root causes of your depression and anxiety.
Both of these therapies offer a safe and non-judgmental environment and aim to leave to better equipped to manage your feelings.
Psychotherapy is a safe and non-judgmental environment where you can openly discuss your issues, thoughts and feelings. It will help you develop skills that will improve your life as you learn to be more effective, resilient and optimistic.
About the Author/s
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.
