Depression Counseling

Signs Depression May Be Present

Depression can affect mood, thinking, energy, sleep and relationships. When several signs last for weeks and get in the way of work, school or home life, it is worth talking with someone. You may notice:

• 01Sadness, emptiness or low mood on most days
• 02Losing interest in people, activities or goals that used to matter
• 03Tiredness that sleep and rest do not seem to fix
• 04Sleeping much more or much less than usual
• 05Changes in appetite or eating habits
• 06Trouble focusing, remembering or making decisions
• 07Feelings of hopelessness, guilt or worthlessness
• 08Pulling away from friends and family

How Depression Can Look Different by Age

In children, depression may show up as irritability, clinginess, frequent tears, complaints of not feeling well or a loss of interest in favorite activities. Teens may spend more time alone, lose motivation at school, sleep at unusual hours or seem angry rather than down. Adults around them may read these shifts as attitude or a passing stage. Child & Adolescent Counseling offers age-appropriate support, with parents and caregivers involved when appropriate.

Adults may keep functioning on the outside while struggling privately. You might keep going to work, caring for others and meeting obligations while feeling flat, worn down or disconnected from your own life. Looking capable does not mean you are doing well, and it does not mean you have to keep pushing through alone.

Why Depression Is Often Minimized

Depression is easy to explain away. You may tell yourself it is just stress, that you are being lazy or that other people have bigger problems. Families may hope a child’s low mood will pass on its own, and shame or stigma can keep people from saying anything at all.

You do not need to reach a breaking point before asking for help. When low mood returns around the same time each year, our page on seasonal depression looks at that pattern more closely. If depression began after a death or another major loss, our page on grief and loss may also be relevant.

How Counseling Can Help With Depression

In counseling, you and your clinician can look at the connections between your thoughts, emotions and behavior. Depression can bring harsh, all-or-nothing thinking and a pull toward withdrawal, and those patterns can deepen low mood. Noticing them opens room to respond in new ways.

Because care is personalized, progress may look different for each person, and goals can be adjusted as you go. Depending on what you need, the work might include:

• 01Building small, steady routines around sleep, meals and movement
• 02Reconnecting with activities and people that matter to you
• 03Developing coping skills for heavier days
• 04Setting realistic goals and noticing progress, however small
• 05Strengthening support from family, friends and community

If You Need Help Right Away

Counseling offers ongoing support, but it is not an emergency service, and Infinity’s appointment request form is not monitored for emergencies. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, or call 911 for emergencies.