Are you feeling weighed down?

By coping in a manner to avoid uncomfortable emotions can actually lead to feeling weighed down. In fact depressive symptoms, such as, having  low mood , feeling lifeless,  flat, hopeless or  feeling down can be the manifestation of deeply rooted negative thoughts and feelings, which get projected onto life, so life feels worthless

Many individuals can feel emotionally weighed down when they escape their feelings or distract themselves as a way to not feel them.  In actual fact, it’s how individuals avoid their feelings and avoid dealing with aspects of their life, that can contribute to them feeling depressed. So, waiting passively for a pill to make you feel better will not improve your life if you do not face your life. It will not change how one feels.

Are you feeling emotionally overwhelmed?

Many individuals who become emotionally overwhelmed feel flat or down. Feeling weighed down, many depressed individuals actually shut down their emotions, as well as find themselves avoiding situations or social environments.

When negative feelings become overwhelming, they become displaced onto things around them, such as, not seeing any hope for the future.  Whatever bad emotions we had  in our past becomes  pushed down. These dark or bleak feelings become ways in which we see ourselves, by thinking there must be something wrong with us, and feel worthless to see the positive in events  or situations that happen to them.

Are you not dealing with your emotions and feel weighed down?

Sometimes it is easy become weighed down emotionally when defending against underlying feelings of worthlessness or self loathing. When the feeling remain outside of ones awareness, a person therefore interpret things negatively that happened to them.

Feelings of not being good enough causes them to give up on life, feeling down, as they find it hard to get the strength to push themselves forward.

Many who are feeling depressed distract themselves from feelings or use comforts to get relief. Alcohol and drugs can be ways they cope. But the feelings get  buried  by weighing the individual down. Depressed individuals use a lot of effort to push down emotions. Sometimes the individual feels less in control or unable to keep it together, without getting the help to resolve the depressive episodes.

The way that individuals cope perpetuates feeling depressed. Keeping feelings down  can actually increase depressed states of mind. By avoiding feelings makes it harder to overcome what they are feeling. The more they bottle up feelings, the more weighed down they get. Avoiding to face situations makes them more anxious. The more they give up on what gives them happiness, the more lifeless they become, as they give up hobbies, avoid seeing friends, etc. There is nothing left to make them feel happy about themselves or offer a sense of purpose. The end can be feeling more depressed, when they cannot face life anymore.

When these feelings or negative self-beliefs remain outside of ones awareness, they can get in the way and hold individuals back in life, because they don’t believe in themselves to put their self out there. So they live a life that holds them back from their real potential.

How to cope if you are feeling down about yourself

In depression counselling  one can manage feeling depressed or overwhelmed, one must explore  how they feel, in order to re-examine their thoughts and feelings, challenging the distortion. In psychotherapy and counselling addresses the feelings underneath, then live a life according to some manoeuvre to discharge pain or distress. Anxiety and depressed states of mind can be resolved by working through these feelings rather than relive them. . Counselling assists the process of getting in touch with difficult emotions, so they become better modulated within, so they do not become overwhelmed with depressive moments. When they can  let go of these feelings, they can be free.

Anxiety counselling allows individuals to better manage feelings and modify negative beliefs. Psychotherapy restructures how one feels about themselves, so they can modify negative thinking, by challenging distorted ways of seeing themselves, so they can overcome feeling depressed.

Counselling for depression individuals contains difficult feelings, so they do not need to hold onto them and feel so overwhelmed. The individual does not need to waste energy pushing down feelings, but instead can be free to live life.

By managing  feelings and challenging negative self-beliefs, the individual can overcome depressive symptoms that take over them. Then they can become  focused and live life, rather than be held back by self-perpetuating  beliefs that stop them living life.

As a therapist at Counselling Service Melbourne, Nancy Carbone has a M Soc Soc (Couns). If you want help overcoming feeling down contact Nancy  for an appointment.  You can sign up on her newsletter for free tips and relationship advice.

You can find Nancy at https://www.counsellingservicemelbourne.com.au/, Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn.

For enquires for counselling call 0449 861 147 or use the enquiry form.

All content is copyright 2017 Nancy Carbone