Depression

Most of us feel down, flat or plain depressed at some point of our lives. Normal life events such job loss, relationship breakdown and the death of a loved one can help trigger deep feelings of loss and sadness. These blue periods can drag on for weeks, months and sometimes years.

If your condition has lasted several weeks and you have feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness and even thoughts of self harming you may have developed a the kind of deep level of depression can often be resolved with the assistance of professional help. Under Australia's Medicare system professional help is often free or at a significantly reduced cost. The first step is to consult with your general practitioner. When you make your appointment tell the receptionist that you would like a mental health care plan and they will book you in for a slightly longer session.

Drugs or no Drugs?

The effectiveness of anti-depressants is widely debated in the literature and as a general rule of thumb psychological treatment such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) will give the same result as taking drugs if you have mild to moderate depression. If you decide to seek counselling then Medicare will give you six session with a psychologist with standard rebates. Some people chose to take both medication and see a psychologist which is frequently recommended for severe depression.

If you are interested in engaging in anxiety counselling then have a look at the Gecko House psychologists who can offer assistance including Latika Sadashiv and Mark Sykes.