After anxiety, depression is the most prevalent mental health issue in New Zealand – with about one person in twelve experiencing it at some level at any one time.
Low mood is a common and normal response to our experiences in life at times. Low mood may become depression if it meets certain criteria, for example it persists for two weeks or more or your lose interest in people or activities that you would normally find engaging and fulfilling.
Many people experiencing depression also experience anxiety and this may arise as a consequence of their being depressed. For others however anxiety has been their journey into depression – they’ve lost hope that they will ever feel anything other than anxious and the impact of anxiety on their lives has led to depression. People with depression, especially if is moderate to severe, can really struggle with remaining motivated, the simplest things can feel like a very great effort.
How you ‘got’ depression will also vary from person to person. You may have a genetic ‘pre-disposition’ towards it. This might lie dormant in you until it is triggered by perhaps an early childhood environment with depressed or anxious parents or even the wear and tear of daily living. With or without a pre-disposition a major trauma, disease, loss or unfortunate choices you make in life might leave you feeling depressed and thus situations you would previously have been able to cope with feel too difficult to deal with.
Untreated depression, especially if has risen to moderate levels or beyond, can just continue to build, and possibly lead to a crisis such as a major depressive episode. Recovery from depression is very realistic and achieving this can approached in a number of ways depending on the severity of your depression, where you live and other factors.
There are many ways you get help for depression, your doctor for example, or if you are living in Canterbury, NZ you can contact us on
03 365 9479 or reception@mhaps.flywheelsites.com
Many of our staff have their own lived experience of depression and people find this helpful because they feel readily understood and our staff are knowledgeable about depression and how and where to get help.