If you are feeling anxious and depressed, you want relief. Anxiety and depression are miserable to live with, and for some people, these feelings are debilitating.
And if you’re like many people, there is the added suffering of not knowing why these feelings are there.
I’m Dr. Kathleen Kelly, owner and founder of the Syrona Counseling Retreats. In this video I’m going to tell you 3 things about anxiety and depression that I know as a therapist – that you should know too.
First, Anxiety and depression are part of your body’s emotional warning system.
Your body communicates a lot of its physical needs to you through feelings. You feel hungry. You feel a full bladder. You totally feel a broken or twisted ankle! Is it any surprise then that your body communicates your emotional needs to you through feelings as well?
Feelings like anger, guilt, loneliness, sadness, jealousy – these feelings are actually messages, designed to get your attention. And, anxiety and depression are part of this very important communication system.
Second, Anxiety and depression are warning signals that your social needs are not being met.
Humans are social, so we have social needs, like safety, belonging, intimacy, and self-worth. Anxiety and depression are your body’s emotional warning system going off, telling you (or screaming at you) that important social needs are not being met.
Depression happens when you don’t believe there is anything you can do to get your unmet needs met. So, to conserve energy, your body withdraws your interest in the outside world.
Anxiety, being future-oriented, is a natural result of looking forward and seeing only potential threats and losses around these important needs.
Third, If you focus solely on getting rid of the feeling, you’re “shooting the messenger.”
Most people know that we are “hard-wired” to avoid pain. What’s not so well known is that emotional pain travels many of the same body pathways as physical pain.
Your emotional pain hurts in a physical way, so it’s only natural that you want to move away from it. With physical pain this makes sense, but for emotional pain, not so much.
When you ignore your feelings, you are, in effect, “shooting the messenger.”
How often have you sought help for your depression and anxiety only to be given solutions for changing your feelings, instead of addressing the issues that your anxiety and depression are warning you about in the first place?
As therapists, we find that when our clients get clear about the “real problems,” their feelings of anxiety and depression naturally dissipate.
So if you’re tired of the roller coaster of anxiety and depression, consider moving beyond just “fixing the feeling.” There is another option.
At our counseling retreats you’ll discover what your feelings are trying to communicate and get real relief by dealing with the root nature of your anxiety and depression. If this sounds like a good option to you, schedule your counseling retreat today.
