There are any number of reasons that people become depressed. Depression can arise in response to events such as the loss of a relationship or job, or a loved one. Depression can also arise during a stressful period of uncertainty or transition in your life that leads you to questions what you’ve been doing and where you’re headed, leaving you feeling lost and without answers. And sometimes the reasons depression arises may not be clearly defined.

But while depression can arise for many reasons, or even for what may seem like no reason at all, in general, depression involves regrets about the past, sadness and discontent with the present, an inability to experience pleasure in life, and feelings of hopelessness about the future. These feelings are accompanied a sense of helplessness, of feeling stuck, unable to make yourself feel better, and not knowing what else you can try.

Here is a video from the National Institute of Mental Health that describes the experiences of some people with depression. The video also discussed treatment options.

Below is a video from the UK’s National Health Service that describes the symptoms of depression and treatment options.

Both of these videos discuss the use of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) and medication to help treat depression. As a therapist, I believe in the benefits of therapy, especially cognitive therapy/cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for helping people overcome depression. I think medication is also a good option for many people, but I don’t feel it is as important as the videos suggest. I often have clients who do not want to take medication, or have tried medication and did not find it that helpful or experienced too many side and have stopped taking it.

Whether or not you want to take medication to help you move past your depression, cognitive therapy/cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is an effective, empirically-supported treatment for reducing depression.