With over 21 million Americans fighting depression today, this issue has become one of the most significant battles therapists help their clients fight. However, like many other diseases, this disorder may occur in many forms, such as clinical and high functioning depression.
When faced with this issue, it can become easy to feel as though you are drowning in a consistent wave of melancholy, unable to find interest in the activities you once loved.
Today, one form of this disorder that has become commonplace in therapy rooms across the globe is high functioning depression.
Although patients battling this issue often have the regular symptoms of this disorder, such as fatigue, poor appetite, and crippling self-esteem, they are often more muted.
These dampened symptoms allow people with high functioning depression to look and feel fine on the outside while facing an internal struggle.
Naturally, as it can be tremendously challenging to spot people with this form of depression, they may be able to spend months or years before anybody notices, creating a sense of isolation or loneliness.
If you believe that you or a loved one may be dealing with high functioning depression, please do not hesitate to seek help.
At My Holistic Therapy, we dedicate ourselves to helping clients live a depression-free life using energy therapy and other holistic methods. Our therapeutic process has helped various clients dig into the root cause of their disorder and completely uproot it.
To learn more about the different benefits of holistic therapy, please drop us a call or visit our practice in Encino.
What is High Functioning Depression?
One of the core things that sets high functioning depression apart from other forms of this disorder is its ability to do tremendous damage in the background.
This softened impairment level often means that high functioning depression is challenging to spot, with most people reading their symptoms as general stress. However, this could not be further from the case.
People with this form of depression often face the same challenges as those practitioners diagnosed with clinical or psychotic depression.
Yet, because the issue is so challenging to spot, they may easily go years without receiving any help from friends or family.
As you would expect, spending a significant amount of time walking through life with poor self-esteem, fatigue, and restlessness will always take its toll and may lead to more dangerous disorders.
At our Encino practice, we believe that nobody should have to face persistent depression, especially not alone.
Fortunately, together we can take the necessary steps to dive into the root cause of this disorder and begin developing a bespoke plan to help you live a life free from depression.
Remember, as other people may find it difficult to spot your symptoms, kickstarting your healing process is often in your hands.
If you suspect you have been battling persistent depression for a significant period and would like to live a life free from these symptoms, please drop by our practice.
We have over 25 years of experience guiding patients away from various mental health issues and are always glad to lend a helping hand.
Alternatively, if you would like to learn more about our holistic process, you can choose to leave us a message, and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
What are the Common Signs and Symptoms of High Functioning Depression?
High functioning depression is one of the most significant mental health disorders that can affect people today, and you should always be on the lookout for the following symptoms:
Consistent Drop in Your Self-Esteem
High functioning depression and a reduction in self-esteem often go hand-in-hand, whereby people facing this issue can often feel worthless or as though they are incapable of reaching their goals and dreams.
In most cases, this poor sense of self-worth is often present as an unconscious feeling, like an itch buried so deep in our minds that it can feel impossible to scratch.
However, while you may not be able to sense this feeling, you should always be able to recognize the level of damage it can introduce into our lives.
Struggling with a low sense of self-worth can hinder us from speaking up when it matters or achieving optimal performance at school or in our workplace.
As this lack of self-esteem makes us doubt ourselves, it often feeds our depression. In turn, as our depressive disorder grows, our sense of self-worth is further eradicated.
This feedback loop is one of the most dangerous aspects of high functioning depression and is one of the core reasons we always suggest seeking help from a professional once you notice this disorder.
If you consistently blame yourself when things go wrong, engage in negative self-talk, or wish to disappear into the background in public spaces, you may be struggling with self-esteem issues.
Without the right care, this low sense of self-worth will amplify our depression, making it harder to reach our goals. Fortunately, it does not have to be this way.
My Holistic Therapy is a leading therapeutic center with a core vision of providing natural healing for various issues, such as anxiety, PTSD, trauma, and high functioning depression.
At our Encino practice, we utilize several holistic treatments, including Integrated Physical-Emotional Clearing to provide complete healing to our clients.
Please do not hesitate to leave us a call to learn more about how you can use holistic therapy to transform your life.
You Battle Against Waves of Hopelessness
One of the core symptoms that people with high functioning depression face is a consistent wave of hopelessness. Although this lack of hope may manifest in various ways, we often see it in the form of alienation and a severe lack of inspiration.
Naturally, this inability to see any good in your world may lead to other critical issues, such as suicidal thoughts or a belief that life is pointless.
This hopelessness may also hinder our personal lives by adding a negative taint to positive opportunities, such as exams or promotion exercises in our workplace. If we believe there is no point in life, then we are less likely to put any effort into these tasks, leading to stagnation and a reduction in our self-esteem.
Unfortunately, transforming your life into a place filled with hope is tremendously challenging, as viewing your world as a black hole that swallows everything can feel natural when depressed.
However, although improving your outlook in life may be difficult, it is not impossible.
With proper guidance, we believe that we can help you move from a path of hopelessness and high functioning depression to a world where you can see the good in life.
What are the Other Symptoms of High Functioning Depression
Some other common symptoms or signs of high functioning depression are:
• You struggle with insomnia or other sleeping disorders.
• You deal with a severe lack of energy that prevents you from achieving your daily tasks.
• You overeat or turn to food in moments of high stress.
• You have a poor sense of self-image.
• You struggle with overwhelming fatigue or tiredness.
• You often feel restless or uneasy.
Can You Live With High Functioning Depression?
Although the symptoms of clinical depression and this disorder are similar, they act much more subtly in people battling high functioning depression.
Unfortunately, the muted nature of these symptoms often creates the impression that it is possible to live with this disorder without seeking any treatment, but this is far from true. There are various reasons why you must get professional help for high functioning depression, including:
It Can Get Worse
One of the core things to understand about high functioning depression is that it often worsens with time. Remember, symptoms such as low self-esteem have a symbiotic relationship with depression, which feed into each other.
By choosing not to get help, you run the risk of alleviating these issues, making it more challenging to live a life without these symptoms.
It Alienates You
As the symptoms of high functioning depression act subtly, it can be difficult for your friends and family to discover that you are currently battling a disorder.
Symptoms such as low self-esteem or a poor self-image may also hinder you from forming new social connections in your school or workplace, making you feel more isolated.
You Don’t Have to Live With High Functioning Depression
Fortunately, you do not have to live with high functioning depression, and at My Holistic Therapy, we believe there is a way out.
Through Integrated Physical Emotional Clearing (IPEC), we have been able to dive into the root cause of many symptoms of high functioning depression and create interventions that allow our clients to live a life free from this disorder.
If you have noticed any of the symptoms of high functioning depression and believe they are affecting your daily life, please drop us a call or visit our Encino practice.
Remember, although the symptoms of this disorder may seem slight and ineffective, the damage they do over time is tremendous.
Get back in the driving seat by booking a consultation with us to learn how you can live a depression-free life.
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