Category: Blog

Depression has many myths centered around it. Some people think that depression is hereditary. Others think depression can be caught due to sadness. In today’s blog, we will be covering the myths of depression and how you can fight them. As a counseling center, we have heard every myth out there about depression and addiction. It is time to debunk those myths and teach others about depression. At Luminous Counseling, we can help treat those who are suffering from depression. It is best if you take the time to talk to someone when you are facing depression or other situations that are causing issues in your everyday life. For more information about our treatments and services, contact us today.

Four Depression Myths Debunked

These are some of the most common myths about depression. You have probably heard about some of them or you have even believed some of them. We’re hoping that your idea of depression can be changed once you have more information on the subject. Make sure you educate yourself and others about depression, so these myths can be eliminated.

Depression Is Not Real

This one is a very popular myth about depression. Many people think that depression is about sadness and the person is weak. In fact, depression is a mental health disorder that is very complex. Depression has origins in social, biological, and psychological. It can also be treated in many different ways.

You will Be Cured With Antidepressants

To many, antidepressants are the end all or be all of treating depression. Antidepressants alter the state of the chemistry in your brain and address deep-rooted biological problems that are contributing to your depression. Antidepressants will help you feel better but do not treat the issues.  While antidepressants are very helpful they do not treat the root issues within depression. . Many people need a combination of psychotherapy or therapy, as well as the medications, the medication to help with the daily symptoms and psychotherapy to treat the issue.

You Will Snap Out Of It

Another myth that you may have heard is that you will snap out of depression. This is not true. You can not simply snap out of depression. No one decides to wake up and be depressed one day. Many people think that when you are depressed it is because you are allowing yourself to be stuck in wallowing and sadness. It is a common thought that if you can just change your attitude and be positive, then you will be cured. As we covered above, depression is a medical condition that alters the state of your brain chemistry, structure, and the functions. Additionally, depression is negatively affected due to biological and environmental factors.

Depression Is Hereditary

Depression is thought to be a hereditary disease. If your parents have depression, then it is assumed that you may have depression as well. There is no scientific evidence that says genetics play a significant part in making you a risk for depression. Even if your parent has depression, it does not mean you are at risk for getting it as well. However, you should be aware of the history of your family, it is best to concentrate on factors you can control and lower any chance you may think of getting depression such as drug use or alcoholism.

Continue to read our blog for further information on depression and addiction. If you feel like you have depression, then call today to schedule an appointment.

In What To Know About Depression – Part One, we went over the different types of depression as well as the intricacies of what this illness is. In today’s blog, we will be expanding on some different facets about depression. We want you to understand depression to the best of your abilities, so you can know if you are suffering from this illness. If you have noticed that you are consistently unhappy for a lengthy period of time, then it is time to reach out to Luminous Counseling for some assistance. Our facility can help individuals, addiction counseling, and couples counseling. The issues we focus on are addiction, depression, and other problems that might create areas of tension in your personal or professional life as well as with relationships and health.

The Spectrum Of Depression

Depression is not a binary situation. Many people think they either have or don’t have depression, but in fact, that is not the case. There is actually an entire spectrum of depression. There are more severe forms of depression that leave a person unable to get out of bed for days on end, and there are people who go about their daily lives until an episode hits them unexpectedly. With different levels of depression, you will not fall under one specific category. Some days are better than others, but it is recommended that you speak with someone to understand the severity of your depression.

Signs Of Depression

As we have mentioned a few times, depression can manifest itself in many different forms. Here is a helpful list of signs to know whether you are depressed and need to meet with a professional to discuss what is going on.

• Empty moods
• Anxiousness
• Persistent sadness
• A feeling of guilt
• A feeling of worthlessness
• A loss of interested in usually pleasurable activities
• A feeling of helplessness
• Appetite changes
• Thoughts of suicide and death
• Restlessness
• Irritability
• Physical symptoms such as sleeping all of the time
• Decreased energy
• Difficulty concentrating
• Difficulty remembering
• Indecisiveness
• Constant fatigue

How Depression Affects Women

The effects of depression in women are different than men. Women do not always feel all of the same symptoms. Generally, women feel more worthlessness, guilt, and sadness. Women are much more liable to have depression because of biology, life cycle, psychosocial, and lifecycle facets. Additionally, many women also face postpartum depression after giving birth due to their bodies changing.

How Depression Affects Men

Men do not feel depression the same way as women. More commonly, men feel tired, have difficulty sleeping, agitated, and irritable. Additionally, men have a loss of interest in activities they once enjoyed. Men, unlike women, are much more liable to turn to self-medication as well such as alcohol or drugs. Instead of feeling sad, men may also feel angry, discouraged, and frustrated. This may turn them abusive or behave in a reckless manner. Men are much more liable to not talk about the issues at hand either, so instead of speaking to family members or friends they will throw themselves into their work.

Depression should be treated by a professional you trust. Take the time to learn more about Luminous Counseling to see if we are the right fit to help you fight your disease.

Depression can come in many forms. Instead of feeling overwhelming sorrow, you may be feeling angry and irritated all of the time for no reason. You might also be sleeping for hours on end without wanting to get out of bed. Depression can also manifest itself by losing a bunch of weight or gaining a lot in a short period of time. Additionally, depression is liable to cause a myriad of symptoms in your body that range from feeling guilty consistently and helpless to physical symptoms. If you are dealing with depression or think you may be, then the best course of action for you is to get help at Luminous Counseling.

What is Depression?

Sadness is an emotion we have all dealt with, but that does not mean you are depressed when you are feeling downtrodden a few days in a row. Depression is when you are feeling an overwhelming amount of worthlessness, hopelessness, pessimism, and guilt to the point where it begins to interfere with your normal functions and your daily life. This could mean that you struggle to get out of bed or you have difficulty concentrating on work or school. These feelings cause physical or mental pain in you. Depression is a real disease and should not be taken lightly, which is why it is essential that you reach out to a counseling center for assistance. Depression can not be wished away you will need to receive the appropriate help to you deal with this illness.

Different Types Of Depression

There are several different types of depression. Being depressed does not fall under one kind of illness. Below you will find a variety of different sorts of depression you may be dealing with. To get an accurate diagnosis of the type of depression you might be dealing with, take the time to reach out to a professional at Luminous Counseling to ensure you can properly overcome this kind of depression.

Major Depression

This type of depression deal with intense, low moods and a lack of pleasure in activities that you used to enjoy. To be diagnosed with this disease, you would need to feel like this every day for a consistent amount of two weeks. Additionally, you must be facing symptoms that include feeling hopeless, guilty, sleeping more or less than usual, lack of motivation, frequent thoughts of suicide, gaining or losing a large amount of weight in a short time span, to name of the few symptoms you may be dealing with.

Persistent Depressive Disorder

This depression lasts for the length of at least two years. This type of depression may feature episodes of major depression as well as less severe symptoms that last for at least two years. The key is that the depression lasts for two years with consistent episodes and symptoms.

Psychotic Depression

When a person has severe depression as well as a form of psychosis such as hearing voices or having hallucinations, then psychotic depression can take place.

Postpartum Depression

After a female has a baby, she may be feeling overwhelmed and could be going through hormonal and physical changes that result in depression. Many women experience postpartum depression and even though you may attribute it to your body changing, it is still important to talk to someone about it.

Season Affective Disorder

This type of depression can be attributed to the seasons around you. In the winter, there is less sunlight, which cuts down on the amount of vitamin D you might be receiving. SAD can be usually lifted in the summer and the spring due to the sunlight coming back.

Anxiety and depression are two mental health disorders that many people in this country suffer from. They are generally linked together, but why is that? Are they the same? Does everyone who has depression have anxiety and vice versa? The differences between depression and anxiety can be murky and generally, like many things that no one understands, it is easier to group them together. Most people are uncertain as to what exactly the difference is between these two mental health disorders. What specifically do depression and anxiety have in common and what are the differences between them? Today, we’ll be diving into the polarity between depression and anxiety to help you figure out a recovery process that works for you.

About Depression

Depression comes in many different forms. When you have depression, you generally are not feeling worried or nervous; instead, you are more preoccupied with a hopelessness or a sadness that seems to overtake you. This sadness can fester inside of you and helps to contribute to a lack of interests, activities, or hobbies that you may have once enjoyed. Also, the sadness can help to change a person’s weight, appetite, sleep pattern, and can contribute to aches and pains without any cause. There is a lack of energy, thoughts of suicide, and death can infiltrate the mind. Additionally, you will believe that the future only holds negativity and misery. In fact, you only know the future does not hold anything good and a feeling of hopelessness seems to settle inside your head. Depression is more focused on a lack of belief of the positivity. Instead of focusing on worrying, there are negative emotions that seem to drive and sustain you. This is a distinction from being constantly worried.

About Anxiety

You’ve probably heard the term anxiety thrown around a lot in conversation, on television, even in literature. Anxiety is when you suffer from a vulnerability or a doubt about what the future may hold. For example, if you are soon to be married and begin to doubt it because of worse case scenarios filtering through your head followed by thinking your marriage won’t be the positive affair you thought it would be. Anxiety is centered around being very concerned and edgy about future prospects and a fear that those prospects will turn negative. It is focused on thoughts that cause you to become very worried and uncomfortable, avoiding certain situations, adapting self-protective behaviors, and believing everything possible can go wrong. This is a different feeling than having a sadness looming inside of you.

How Luminous Counseling Can Help

Depression and anxiety are both serious mental health conditions. Medications can do a great job of lessening or covering up the symptoms but does not solve the underlying issues. It might be easier to take medication and keep them to yourself but by talking to a professional, you will be able to start to live with your depression or anxiety. Luminous Counseling is geared to help those who may feel hopeless or too fearful to enter certain situations. Even though you may think you are fine, it is suggested that you discuss what you are going through with a professional who can help you live a life you have always wanted.

Based in Huntsville, Luminous Counseling is a counseling center that focuses on counseling individuals and couples need assistance in bringing clarity to their life. From emotional issues to substance addiction, we are able to help you change the quality of life you may be living. For more information, contact our facility.

Addiction is something a majority of the country has dealt with. Whether they are suffering themselves or a loved one has fallen under the spell of a substance, it has touched many people’s lives. What can confuse some about addiction is the fact that it might stem from a social situation. Many times when people begin to experiment with drugs it was during a social situation. However, it does not take much for a social situation to get out of hand and that is when the path to addiction is liable to take place.

At Luminous Counseling, we specifically focus on drug, opiate, and alcohol addiction. It might be hard to determine if a loved one or yourself has a drug addiction. Denial is just as powerful as addiction. It allows you to continue on with your day-to-day activities without seeing what is right in front of you. If you have noticed some changes in your loved one that does not seem to align up with his or her personality, it might be time to talk to them to see what is going on. If you think you may be facing an addiction but you do not want to face the truth, then together we can address your dependency.

Signs To Look For With A Loved One

We want you to be able to recognize any signs of addiction in a loved one, so you can help them get the help they need. Some people may consider getting help and others may not. It is your decision on how to deal with your loved one, but sometimes helping a loved one tackle an addiction can be very painful to watch. From watching them go through withdrawal to struggling to better their lives, the situation is not one everyone can handle, which is why we can assist with ensuring your loved one has the life you have always wanted for them. These signs will allow you to identify if your loved one has an addiction and from there you can decide how to handle the situation.

• Frequently missing school or work
• Disinterest in activities that were previously enjoyable
• Lack of interest in appearance
• No motivation
• No energy
• Lack of money with no explanation
• Drastic changes in behavior
• More secretive behavior

Keep in mind that Luminous Counseling is here for any questions or concerns you may have.

Signs To Look For In Yourself

Looking for signs in yourself can be just as troublesome as trying to find symptoms in your loved one. Sometimes, looking in the mirror can be difficult and scary. You do not want to know that something is going wrong in your life. You do not want to look at what is right in front of you because sometimes it is harder to figure out how you can help yourself. If you are living in denial, then these signs to look for in terms of addiction will allow you to figure out the path you want to be on. Remember, as a counseling center that deals with addiction of alcohol, opiate, and drugs, you can always choose to come to see us for any assistance.

• Panic attacks
• Anxiety if you go a lengthy time without the substance
• Craving or a compulsion to use the substance
• Irritability and nausea if you don’t use
• Mood swings
• Things that were important to you before are not anymore
• You do not care about your responsibilities

If your loved one or yourself has been suffering from a disease of alcohol or drug addiction, Luminous Counseling can help.

Depression manifests itself in several different forms. Symptoms such as irritability, anger for no reason, struggling to get out of bed, loss of interest in activities, binge eating, loss of appetite and other issues. Depression is a very serious mental health disorder that can take years to learn how to manage. When you have depression, or you think you have depression, it’s important to gain insight on how to manage it. If you are currently on medication then yes continue taking your medication as prescribed. If you are looking for a more compressive approach, then counseling and the inclusion of a more mindful approach can help gain the life that you deserve. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: The evidence-based guidelines for PTSD treatment include offering Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy. Medications (such as benzodiazepines) are not recommended because “there are no demonstrated benefits of these medications in treating PTSD. These medications have possible harmful side effects including the risk for addiction, overdose in combination with alcohol, and interference with benefits of some psychotherapies.” Medication does not provide a safety net. Medication seeks to cover the symptoms and issues while professional counseling strives to correct and heal these issues. Medication does not provide a safety net. What happens if you seem to be feeling all of these emotions and can’t make sense of them? That’s when you decide to contact a professionalwho will help you learn how to cope with your depression when you’re overwhelmed. Luminous Counseling is a counseling center in the Huntsville, AL, area.

Feelings You May Be Experiencing

If you have always dealt with depression, you may not notice any heightened emotions; however, when you are depressed, it is important to be attuned to your body and your emotions. Depression can heighten your feelings and make you more distressed. Some of the feelings you may be experiencing are sadness, anxiety, anger, fear, embarrassment, confusion, helplessness, and irritability. These emotions will all make dealing with day-to-day activities more distressing and difficult. If you are feeling these emotions, it is time to reach out to a professional, so you can stop a mental health episode in its tracks.

Signs It’s Time To Reach Out

Besides how you may be feeling and the distress you may be experiencing, there are other signs that show it is time to seek a professional’s help. Some of the signs to help you figure out if you need to see a doctor are listed below:

• Feeling tired
• Lack of energy for activities
• Can’t remember details
• Can’t concentrate on anything
• Persistent aches
• Headaches
• Digestive issues
• Thoughts of self-harm
• Thoughts of depression
• Guilty feelings
• Worthless feelings
• Loss of interest in pleasurable activities
• Restlessness
• Change in sleep patterns

If you are experiencing any of these signs, then you need to speak to someone so you can work through the situation. You might not think it is something you need if you have been dealing with depression for your whole life; however, when you are feeling or showing any of these signs, it is time to ask for help, so you can continue living your life.

How Luminous Counseling & Consulting LLC Can Help

At Luminous Counseling, we strive to help not just individuals in counseling, but couples as well. We help those who may be struggling with an assortment of issues from depression to PTSD as well as specializing in addiction. As a counseling center, we will hear what you wish to focus on and develop a plan that will work for you. We know it is not easy to fight depression and anxiety or to get sober, which is why as a licensed professional counselor we will use cognitive behavioral therapy for introspection into your issues, so as to help you work on them.

Have you and your loved ones been suffering from the disease of alcohol or drug addiction? Have you or a loved one considered getting clean for the first time in your life? First, congratulations for even considering getting clean! Taking the first step to get clean by recognizing you have a problem is imperative for recovery. Even though you probably know it’s not an easy journey to become sober, it’s an important decision to acknowledge that you want to move on from your current life. At Luminous Counseling, we want to commend you on recognizing you need help. Even if you are just considering getting clean, it is important that you contact a licensed professional counselor who specializes in chemical dependency and addiction. If you are wondering why you need to see a chemical dependency counselor addiction, continue reading our blog to understand how you can create a healthy environment for yourself.

Why You Should Seek Help From A Licensed Professional Counselor Who Specializes In Addiction And Recovery

At Luminous Counseling, we strive to help people overcome addictions and other issues they may be facing. We want people to understand that there can be light again at the end of the tunnel even if they don’t believe in themselves. When you come in to see us, together we will create a plan for you to strive toward your goals. It might be difficult when it comes to addiction to see a chemical dependency counselor, but with these reasons as to why you should visit one, you’ll realize that seeing a chemical dependency counselor will benefit you in more ways than one.

Dealing With Stress

Some people gain addictions because of medical interventions, some due to poor coping skills, some are trying to hide from past trauma, others are under a lot of stress. For example, when you’re stressed you may come home and have a beer. The more stressed you feel the more beer you are liable to drink and the more often you will because it “takes the edge off.” Eventually, you realize that your one beer after work has turned into a couple shots and a couple shots have turned into drinking a bottle to yourself every night. This is called a learned behavior, a coping tool that you have learned that seems to help. Drinking is a very poor coping tool, our goal is to not only help with your addiction but to heal the trauma and together help you explore and learn new healthy coping tools. When you are looking to get sober, you will realize that you have to find a different method to deal with stress. A chemical dependency counselor will help you figure out a method for you to handle stress, especially when sudden stress takes over your life such as a sick parent or a change at work. A chemical counselor will give you some suggestions for working out stress and help you to follow them.

Recognizing Triggers

Another way a chemical dependency counselor can help you is by assisting you in recognizing triggers that have helped lead you down the road you may find yourself on. Triggers are situations that happen that have pushed you further and further down the path of addiction. For example, if you have had a poor relationship with a parent you may feel more inclined toward using drugs or alcohol to not have to feel your hurt over your relationship. Drugs and alcohol are tools to numb the pain and by recognizing the triggers that make you want to hide your feelings we can help you work through them to the best of our abilities.

A Resource To Help You Get Clean

Lastly, a chemical dependency counselor will be a resource you can count on to help you work through your addiction. Even though you may have friends, family, and other people encouraging you to get clean, a Licensed Professional Counselor who specializes in Addiction and Recovery will be a resource to treat your addiction while helping you live a healthier and sober life. Contact a chemical dependency counselor today.