Let’s talk about Hope.

Depression can be described in a lot of ways and has a lot of causes, but one pervasive aspect of the experience of being depressed is it zaps a person of ‘hope’. I would describe hope as the ability to hold optimistic viewpoints about future outcomes and events.  As depression kind of takes over, a particular type of pessimism rolls in like a fog that makes it extremely hard to see the sunshine. 

Telling ourselves (or someone else) to “be optimistic” is unhelpful when a person is clinically depressed.  Of course this is exactly the problem, we cannot muster up the optimism.  It can be fleetingly found maybe a moment here or there - but even things that theoretically “should” make you happy, may not make you happy at all.  Have you had this experience and then also beat yourself up for not being more grateful or happy in moments you thought you “should”? This is all a very unproductive cycle but something most of us have experienced.  

Where do we find hope when we are feeling depressed? As a therapist I can tell you there is a lot of hopeful treatment out there.  We know medication can help, we know many different types of therapy can help.  Yoga helps. Somatic breathing and body work can help. Meditation can be helpful as can journaling and exercise. Sitting in the forest and breathing in nature can also help. 

We live in a time when we have a lot of researchers studying what truly makes a difference in happiness levels.  The exploration of new drugs and taking a new look at old drugs (ketamine treatments, MDMA, Psilocybin, and other plant medicines) all show a lot of promise. There’s room for hope. 

When I talk to people who are newly experiencing depression, or those who may have experienced it over a long period of time, there’s a big fear that the depression will never go away. It’s the nature of the way the mind works when it’s depressed, it’s like a little voice constantly reminding you “nothing will get better, and maybe things will get worse”. 

Have you tried therapy before but you didn’t think it was helpful? 

Have you avoided trying medications because you believe you “should” be able to treat your depression by “just changing mindset”? 

Do you hate the idea of meditation and mindfulness, so you haven’t considered trying it? 

Are you scared to try therapy because it feels overwhelming? 

As a clinician I can tell you there is a combination of treatment options that will work for you and it’s a matter of trial and error, not giving up on trying a new combination, and trying things you might be skeptical about. 

The dictionary gives one definition of hope to be “a feeling of expectation or desire for a certain thing to happen”. If during your quest to treat your depression you keep hold of “hope” by understanding you might not “feel” it yet, but the desire for recovery from depression is the very road that will eventually lead you to effective treatment and healing.

As a therapist who has experienced depression herself, I know how hard it is to find that hope sometimes. I love helping people find that hope. If you’re someone who has had a hard time finding hope, I hope you’ll consider relying on the hopeful message that thousands of people recover from depression every year.