Depression & Mood
When the colour has drained out of life, and you are just going through the motions.
Whether it's persistent emptiness, irritability, or a numbness that has taken over, we work to understand your specific experience.
Together, we will gently rebuild your capacity to connect with what matters, challenging the patterns that keep you isolated. You will learn to interrupt the cycle before it takes over.
Book a 15 min Phone Call
Recognizing the Shutdown
Depression doesn't always look like weeping or sadness. Sometimes it shows up as irritability, numbness, or a pervasive sense that nothing matters anymore.
If you are reading this, you might recognize these experiences:
-
The Flatline: You feel emotionally numb. Things that used to bring you joy—hobbies, music, friends—feel meaningless now. You are physically present, but emotionally disconnected.
-
The Heavy Fog: There is a weight that won't lift. You wake up feeling exhausted before the day even starts, and simple tasks (like showering or texting back) feel overwhelming.
-
The Short Fuse: Instead of sadness, you feel constantly irritated or angry. People tell you to "just relax," but you can't.
-
The Retreat: Isolating feels safer than pretending you're okay. You've stopped reaching out to people, but the loneliness is making everything worse.
-
The Inner Critic: Your thoughts have become relentlessly negative—about yourself ("I'm lazy"), your future ("It won't get better"), and the world.
The Biology of the Slump (Why You Can't "Snap Out of It")
Depression is more than just "feeling sad." It is a biological shutdown.
When you are depressed, your brain's reward system essentially goes offline. Activities that should feel good don't register as rewarding anymore. At the same time, your energy plummets.
This creates a trap: You don't have the energy to do the things that would make you feel better.
The Cycle that Keeps You Stuck:
-
Withdrawal: You feel tired, so you stop doing things (like seeing friends, exercising, and hobbies).
-
The Loss: You lose access to the positive moments that usually boost your mood.
-
The Result: You feel worse, which makes you want to do even less.
The numbness isn't a sign that you are weak. It is a sign that your system is overwhelmed and needs support.
How We Lift the Weight
Depression convinces you that nothing will help. We start by acknowledging that the depression is lying to you.
-
Reversing the Shutdown (Micro-Steps) We don't wait until you "feel like" doing things to start moving because the motivation won't come while you are sitting still. We identify micro-steps, tiny, manageable actions that create a spark of momentum. Action comes before motivation.
-
Untangling the Thoughts We examine the thought patterns that fuel the fog, self-criticism, hopelessness, and all-or-nothing thinking. You'll learn to recognize these thoughts as symptoms of depression, not facts about your character.
-
Stabilizing the Day Depression erodes your routine. We work on gently rebuilding the basic structure—sleep, food, sunlight, movement—that supports your brain chemistry, even when you don't feel like it.
-
Addressing the Root Sometimes depression is a response to something real - unresolved grief, chronic stress, burnout, isolation, or being stuck in a life situation that's draining you. We explore what your depression might be trying to tell you about what needs to change in your life.
Note: This work requires patience. Depression tells you nothing will help, but that's the illness talking, not reality.
.png)
What Walking Out of the Fog Looks Like
Recovery from depression is gradual. It is rarely a straight line.
Early Shifts: You might first notice small changes—slightly more energy on some days, brief moments where the fog lifts, or realizing you laughed at a joke for the first time in months.
The Process: Some sessions will be practical (planning your week, building routines). Others will be deeper (processing grief, examining what's keeping you stuck). We move at your pace.
The Goal: You won't necessarily be happy 24/7. But you will develop the capacity to recognize when the fog is rolling in, and you will have the tools to navigate through it so it doesn't consume you.
Page Summary
