Depression

You lack energy, nothing seems to bring you joy and you don't feel like getting up from bed in the morning. You don't want to see people and your favourite activities do not seem interesting to you anymore. You feel down, you don't see the point in anything, you simply feel empty inside. Your appetite changes drastically, you have difficulties with your sleep and focus. Sometimes the thought of suicide goes through your mind. If you have been feeling this way for two weeks or more, you are most probably suffering from depression.

There are two main types of depression - reactive and endogenous.

Reactive depression gets triggered by a specific event - loss of a beloved person, break-up, divorce, loss of a job. With this type of depression you can trace back to when it started and you have clarity what exactly is so heavy for you right now. The reactive depression is the natural response of the organism, withdrawing from its environment in order to preserve energy, until it manages to adapt to the new situation. Through support and understanding what is going on and where it started from, the reactive depression usually disappears within 6 months.

Unlike reactive depression, with endogenous depression it is usually unclear what triggered it. This type of depression is often connected to a trauma, which the person has suppressed and does not remember. He just has a low mood, doesn't see the point in anything and this is not the first time in his life he feels this way. Sometimes there is a triggering event, for example some kind of loss, but the depression was there before that. So the loss simply draws the depression on the surface, but it is not the cause for it. When it comes to endogenous depression, there is often a genetic predisposition - this means other family members have it or have had it as well. There are often suicide thoughts, even attempts.

In case of endogenous depression a consultation with a psychiatrist might be needed, sometimes even a medical treatment. With this type of depression psychotherapy would be a longer process, because it is not only a matter of response to an outside event, but depression has become a part of the personality.