Depressive Moods and Melancholy

Those with with depressive moods say they feel blue, feel flat,  bleak, dull, melancholy,  miserable and have no motivation for life. Life may feel lifeless, like gloom or hopeless  with distress or worry. Many feel exhausted, with a lack of passion in activities. Often these individuals have internalised negative beliefs about themselves. Depression can also be anger turned inwards towards the self, as self loathing. Counselling for depressed individuals can restructure these distorted beliefs about themselves.

Do you suffer depressive moods?

Many people with depressive moods may  escape unwanted emotions or negative thoughts within themselves, to avoid feeling down.  Yet, it can take a lot of effort to shut off  feelings. At some point, a person can  crash, feel life is falling apart or feel  they have no control over life. Many individuals  enter  therapy  when they cannot cope, since things are getting worse, as they give up on taking care of their self. Many see the world negative and their prospects of the future negative , which often reflects how they feel inside, about themselves. There is no inner resources to push through the day, so they lack motivation or drive, feeling lifeless. These depressive moods may not reflect the reality of ones self, but distort how one feels

Many depressed individuals cannot  face the day, giving up on life. Life can feel meaningless, as they dread each day. Giving up further perpetuates the feeling of worthlessness, so many spiral down further, not able to get out of the feeling of melancholia. Life feels all too hard, where they cannot mobilise themselves to move forward or find pleasure. Often letting go of ones life feels they have no hope,  as they give up on the things that could make them feel better.

Many do not register what is going on inside, but repress how they feel, turning their anger inwards towards themselves, with self loathing and self blaming. Yet, putting a lid on how one feels only compounds  feeling  weighed down, by pushing everything down. Instead,  by treating these negative thoughts or feelings, and modifying them into a more healthier form, allows the individual to gain a more realistic sense of self, in order to restore confidence in themselves. Being able to face the day, means you are living life, making life work for you, rather then staying stuck by avoiding  to take control of ones life. They become miserable when not  living their life,  giving up or losing control, causing hopelessness and despair with no life purpose .

Melancholia and hopelessness

Individuals with Melancholia feel unable to keep it together, since they do not have the inner capacity to cope or push themselves forward, often giving up on life. They  avoid putting themselves out there or miss opportunities in life. By keeping feelings down, leads to a depressive mindset, adding to the  misery, emptiness and hopelessness. Instead, by understanding what is happening on the inside,  can help them to better make sense of these emotions, so they do not feel overwhelmed by them. As a result, the individual does not need to hold them back, but can be free to enjoy life. With  therapy for those with depressive states of mind,  the individual  can re-integrate difficult feelings and re-experience them in a way that makes it more manageable for them.

Sometimes individuals who feel bleak within themselves have ‘taken in’ that they are not good enough or not worthy, from their earlier experiences.   These  negative beliefs can be  used to guider how they see themselves and how they perceive others see them, So they give up easily because they feel they are not worth it. So they avoid l situations. They repress hurt feelings towards these loved ones, by internalizing the bad as existing within them. So they blame themselves  for things that go wrong, which may not be their fault. So negative events can set off negative feelings about worthlessness. When there is too much bad taken in, they cannot tolerate it and have to project it out,  so the world is bad and mistreats them.

Since those with depressive mood states have internalised negative beliefs, they learn to doubt themselves, developing the belief that something is wrong with them. They think things are their fault and interpret things negatively. Often these feelings are outside their awareness, so they do not know they come from within themselves. They do not see how these feelings distort reality, of how they see themselves.

Outside of ones awareness, these bad internalised self-beliefs or feelings distort how they see things that happen to them. They also distort how they think others see them, feeling judged. Often these thoughts are within themselves and are hard to manage so they think the external world does not like them, instead of owning that they don’t like themselves. Counselling for depression challenges the distortions, so they become modified into healthier ways of seeing themselves, by challenging these distorted ways of thinking.

Individuals who suffer from depressive moments,  act in accordance with these self limiting beliefs, which could hold them back from facing opportunities, because they don’t believe in themselves . So they live a life that holds them back from their potential.

Counselling for depressive moods

Depression counselling  services assists individuals with depressive moods who have not been able to resolve issues on their own, by shutting down  to defend against unwanted feelings. Therapy releases their pain and negative affects that have become internalised.   By accessing underlying negative feelings and reprocessing them, these feelings will no longer drive them towards negativity. Individuals can rediscover the real potential, when the real self awakens, develops and grows. Individuals are no longer held back in self destructive thoughts and can move forward into living fuller lives.

Counselling in Melbourne for depressive moods allows individuals to access  feelings  and  question them to  show they may not fit, to confront the distortion. Psychotherapy allows individuals to dismantle negative projections which have become internalised. So they do not allow past events to b re-lived. So individuals can embrace life and not feel held back from reaching their life aspirations. By trusting themselves they realise they are not so bad and that people are not judging them the way they do. Many have capacity for life in order to focus on their goals, rather than being emotionally weighed down  by avoiding feelings..

These negative beliefs perpetuate depressive states of mind, that keep them stuck, not allowing them to make the most of their lives and taking the best opportunities. It takes working through these  thoughts and feelings to overcome them, and let them go. Change does not happen unless the old distortions are challenged or modified, so that one can really believe in themselves, so they develop a stronger conviction in who they are and can become stronger in themselves.

By sorting out ones feelings and challenging negative self distortions, the individual can overcome depressive symptoms that take over their life, with Counselling Melbourne. So they can become clear  and live life according to their potential, not held back by self- perpetuating negative beliefs, which can prevent them from moving forward.

As a therapist Nancy Carbone has a M Soc Sc (Couns) at Counselling Service Melbourne.  If you want to overcome depressive moods contact Nancy for an appointment. You can sign up on her newsletter for more tips and relationship advice. 

If you would like an appointment call 0449 861 147 or use the enquiry form

Reference:

McWilliams, N. (1994). Psychoanalytic Diagnosis. Understanding
Personality Structure in the Clinical Process. Guildford
Press: New York.