Depressed But Not Alone

Written By Jadon Ward

As anyone who has experienced depression knows, it is more than simply feeling sad or moody for more than a few days. Clinical depression is something that impacts every area of your life and leaves you feeling empty and hopeless. This condition robs the pleasure of daily life and leaves you feeling numb. 

I am writing on this topic not just as a therapist who has worked with clients with this condition, but as someone who has personally suffered. I first encountered depression when I began my first year of University. I was pursuing a degree I wasn’t passionate about, felt isolated from my classmates, and no longer had a clear view of what my future might hold. I began to feel apathetic towards my responsibilities, isolated from my friends and family, and disinterested in the activities I used to enjoy. 

In this time, my memory worsened and it became difficult to remember life before this state. I lost hope for the future and was severed from my past leaving me trapped in that state of existence. I didn’t know exactly what led me to the place I was in or how to get out so I began to believe that there was no way out. It wasn’t until those close to me reached out and reminded me how much they cared that I saw how far I had drifted. I was reminded of the life I had previously lived and began to find my way back. 

Through this experience, I learned firsthand the impact that depression can have and what the healing journey feels like. There’s not a quick and easy fix that can be made, rather the internal commitment to take a small step every day. Oftentimes, this requires the individual to force themselves to do things such as exercising and socializing even when they don’t feel like it. Medication and therapy are both helpful tools to be able to break the cycle of depression and start a new chapter. Regardless of which route is taken, it is a difficult process to regain control over one’s mind but it’s worth the struggle. 

I want to encourage those who are experiencing this and feeling stuck that you are not alone and that there is hope. Though it may feel overwhelming and like change is out of reach, healing is possible. It begins by reaching out to those around you and committing to take the steps necessary to get better.

Tilon Ward, BA, MA (Cand.)

Tilon Ward joins Evergreen Counselling Group as a practicum student having completed academic requirements of his Master of Counselling Degree. He received his Bachelor of Arts Psychology degree from Briercrest College having had a desire to learn more about the inner workings of the human mind. Tilon chose to pursue counselling because of a passion to work with others and see healing take place.

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Evergreen Counselling Group is proud to serve the communities of Kelowna, Vernon, West Kelowna, Lake Country, Armstrong, and the rest of the North Okanagan and Central Okanagan Regional Districts. “We acknowledge that our business is located on the traditional, ancestral, unseeded territory of the Syilx/Okanagan people.”

Jadon Ward
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