Depression and Anxiety are separate concerns but often go hand in hand.
Depression is a common mental health disorder impacting 5.4% of Canadians over the age of 15. If you have been struggling with depression you may lack the energy to get through the day, put off tasks, feel emotional or numb or perhaps irritable and impatient.
You may notice a lack of enjoyment in activities you used to enjoy or too exhausted to do those things. Perhaps you have no appetite or find yourself overeating. Sleep could also be either extreme. People often report troubles concentrating and paying attention or feeling preoccupied over how bad they feel.
Anxiety disorders are the most common of all the mental health problems. Approximately 1 in 10 Canadians are impacted. Feeling anxious is a healthy response to stress or danger but when the worry or fear become excessive and out of proportion to the situation, it can be a problem.
Anxiety has many forms but it typically shows itself as feelings of unease, anxiousness, nervousness or unable to control worries. Those struggling with anxiety may also feel impending doom, danger or panic.
Physical symptoms such as shaking, sweating, increased heart rate, dizziness, numbness can also be experienced. People may keep replaying the past or worrying about the future. They may feel preoccupied and afraid of bad things happening to themselves or their loved ones. Feeling restless and unable to relax or easily irritable or annoyed. The anxiety may also be more specific to certain phobias or panic attacks or social situations.
Experiencing either depression or anxiety or both can feel extremely debilitating. They both impact a person emotionally, mentally and physically. Sometimes it can be the physical concerns that encourages a person to reach out for support for the first time.
When we feel that we are stuck, lost and unable to move forward, it can be a terrifying experience but we don’t need to go through it alone.
We utilize an integrative approach of evidence-based practices to help clients understand their symptoms and how to manage and heal from them.
