Am I Depressed Enough To Need Therapy?

This is a question that many people encounter as they think about seeking therapy. You may have been feeling down lately, or less motivated than you used to be, or you may notice that life feels heavier than it used to, or less meaningful and inspiring. The idea of seeking therapy enters your mind; or maybe other people in your life suggest that therapy would be a support for you and would help you to feel better. But when it comes to moving forward with going into therapy, you may encounter a hitch. Perhaps you wonder, “Am I really depressed enough to need therapy? There are many people who are worse off than I am, who are suffering terribly. They’re the ones who really need therapy, right? I can get through this on my own. I’m just feeling a little down.”

Many people have thoughts like these when they consider depression treatment. After all, it’s easy to point to people who are more depressed than you are, people who are less functional than you are. You may be getting by just fine in terms of keeping up your job and other responsibilities, even though life feels challenging. And there can also be a lot of cultural baggage that makes it difficult to seek support. For instance, you may have been taught that strength means being self-reliant, or that toughness means going it alone. It can also feel like going into therapy is admitting that you are having a hard time, which can be difficult to do.

The good news is that these cultural values are shifting at a great speed. Many people have now come to recognize that seeking support through therapy is a sign of strength, not weakness. There is now, thankfully, a great deal of cultural support for therapy.

Do you really want to continue to feel burdened, as opposed to finding support to experience greater joy and meaning in life? The truth is that depression can impact your life in many ways, even if you continue to be functional and do the things you need to in life. You may feel a subtle dampening of pleasure; or your inner life may feel less vivid and alive than it used to; or you may find yourself pulling back from your intimate relationships; or you may find that your creative life or work life are suffering. Depression has a way of creeping in across all strata of personal and professional experience. But its effects can be difficult to see, especially if it happens gradually.

Therapy can be a profound relief—even if you aren’t feeling terribly depressed. Part of working with a therapist is relieving the weight of depression. And that is a worthy aim in and of itself. But at the same time, as therapy begins to provide relief from depression, this process can also at the same time support you to know yourself better and more deeply, and this process can benefit and enrich your life in many significant ways.

Through the process of therapy, you may find that you are better able to manage difficulties in life when they emerge, without falling again into depression. This can feel like a great source of strength and confidence as you navigate life’s ups and downs. You may come to feel more emotionally integrated and alive; better in touch with sources of creativity and professional growth; more loving in your relationships and more able to accept love. Therapy is about relieving depression. But in our work together, doing this in a deep way, many other benefits can accrue.

So, if you are wondering whether you are depressed enough to need therapy, maybe it’s worth reframing the question. Your life may not have fallen apart because of your depression. But perhaps the question should be: Would you like to find relief from the depression, the weight, that you feel? And in doing this, would you like to expand and enrich your emotional life and your life in the world, so that you feel again a sense of pleasure and meaning, expansiveness and growth?

If you are feeling depressed, whether significantly or only in smaller ways, I invite you to call me at (510) 500-9722 so that we can talk about how depression therapy can help.