Depression & low mood

Depression is more than sadness. Often it's an absence — of energy, interest, appetite for things that used to matter. It tells you that nothing will help, that you're a burden, that this is simply who you are. Those thoughts feel like facts from the inside. They are symptoms.

How therapy helps

Therapy for depression works on two fronts. The practical front — CBT — addresses the patterns that maintain low mood: the withdrawal that removes life's rewards, the self-critical thinking that punishes every shortfall, the rumination that masquerades as problem-solving. Behavioural and cognitive change here is well-evidenced and often brings relief sooner than people expect.

The deeper front asks what the depression is about. Loss, anger turned inward, a life shaped around others' expectations, an old grief never fully had — depression often carries meaning, and psychoanalytic work helps recover it. Understanding why this, why now, is frequently what makes recovery durable rather than temporary.

What we'd work on

Re-engaging with life in graded, realistic steps; loosening the inner critic; understanding what the low mood is responding to; and rebuilding a sense of worth that doesn't depend on performance.

If you are having thoughts of ending your life, please don't carry that alone — call 999 in an emergency, NHS 111 (option 2), or the Samaritans free on 116 123, any hour of any day.