Mental health in America is declining at a rapid rate. About 25% of adults are dealing with a mental health diagnosis, according to Johns Hopkins. This means that the demand for psychiatrists is at an all-time high. The good news is that this means you should have plenty of options for a certified mental health professional in your area.
If you’re someone who has never seen a psychiatrist before, you might be feeling a little apprehensive about your first appointment. Here are six ways to help you feel more comfortable and get the most out of your first session.
1. Research Psychiatrists Ahead of Time
It’s important to find a psychiatrist with the precise experience and training required to assist you. You can research a psychiatrist’s background and specialties online. This is a great way to ensure that they’re equipped to guide you on your healing journey. You should also find a psychiatrist whose personality matches or meshes well with your own. After all, you’re going to have lots of lengthy conversations with this person! Therefore, it’s ideal if your psychiatrist has a personality that makes you feel comfortable and at ease.
2. Consult With Other People in Therapy
If you know anyone who’s currently in therapy, ask them about their experiences and what they think makes for a successful psychiatrist-patient relationship. They might also be able to give you some insights on what topics to bring up during your first session. Speaking with someone who’s been down this road before is a great way to prepare yourself.
3. Choose a Convenient Location
It’s essential that you choose a therapy model that suits your own comfort levels. If you have anxiety or apprehension about traveling long distances, then you should ensure you find a psychiatrist within close proximity to your home. You may even be interested in telehealth appointments. This allows you to receive counseling right from the comfort of your home. Many patients find this ideal for the convenience and comfort it provides.
4. Prepare Before Your First Session
You’ll want to have an idea of what you want to talk about going into your first session. Many psychiatrists will ask you why you’re seeking therapy and what your goals are for treatment. It can be helpful to write these answers down ahead of time so you don’t forget anything important. This can also help you feel more prepared to tackle your therapy session with confidence.
5. Be Open and Honest
For therapy to be effective, you need to be transparent with your psychiatrist about what’s going on in your life. Such honesty can be difficult, but try to remember that your psychiatrist is there to help you and is not there to judge you. Be prepared to disclose details of your life that you might not share with others. Remember that your psychiatrist is a professional who is bound by privacy laws to keep everything you say confidential.
6. Ask Questions
Your psychiatrist will ask you lots of questions during your first few appointments. However, you should use this time to ask questions yourself! Therapy is not, in fact, a one-way street. Treat your first session like a conversation or a getting-to-know-you session with your psychiatrist. Ask them about their specific credentials and approaches to therapy. This will help you gauge their ability to assist you with your specific goals.
Seeking therapy can be a big step, but it doesn’t have to be a scary one. By doing a little research and preparing ahead of time, you can ensure that your first therapy appointment is a comfortable and productive one. If you’re ready to experience the tremendous benefits of therapy, give SouthEnd Psychiatry a call today. We look forward to helping you.
In the US alone, about 1 in 10 people experience depression. From the pandemic to social unrest, there are many factors in today’s society that contribute to this rising mental health condition.
Psychology Today states:
“The trigger for depression can be almost any negative experience or hardship. Triggers can be external—losing a parent (especially when young), losing a job or developing a debilitating disease—or they can be internal and invisible, such a brooding over that most common of experiences, a failed relationship. People differ in their susceptibility, both by virtue of the biological heritage, their parenting heritage, their styles of thinking, the coping skills they acquire or deliberately cultivate, and the degree to which situations afford them the ability to control their fate.”
What is Depression?
Webster defines depression as a mood disorder that is marked by varying degrees of sadness, despair, and loneliness and that is typically accompanied by inactivity, guilt, loss of concentration, social withdrawal, sleep disturbances, and sometimes suicidal tendencies.
Signs of Depression
According to the latest edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, depression can be considered an illness when at least five symptoms occur together for at least two weeks. Symptoms include:
Feelings of sadness, emptiness, or hopelessness
Irritability, angry outbursts, or low frustration tolerance
Loss of interest in or ability to enjoy usual activities, from sex to sports
Sleep disturbance, whether inability to sleep (insomnia) or sleeping too much (hypersomnia)
Fatigue and lack of energy; everything feels effortful
Appetite disturbance, including loss of interest in eating and weight loss or overeating and weight gain
Anxiety, agitation, and restlessness
Slowed thinking, moving, or talking
Feelings of worthlessness and guilt, a focus on past failure, self-blame
Difficulty concentrating, remembering things, and making decisions
Recurring thoughts of death
Physical pain such as headaches or back pain that has no clear cause.
How Can Therapy Help?
At SouthEnd Psychiatry, our therapy team first helps patients understand what thoughts, feelings and beliefs are contributing to their depression. We then begin to develop healthy coping skills to combat and prevent depressive episodes.
Negative thought patterns directly affect our mood. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps us understand these patterns. We learn how to reframe our thoughts through newly developed skills including meditation.
How Can We Help a Loved One With Depression?
Helping someone with depression can come in many forms. Acknowledgment, understanding and empathy are a great place to start! Here are five ways you can help a loved one battling depression:
Encourage therapy treatment. Depression is a complex disorder. Talking to someone who is trained and experienced can mean all the difference in the world. SouthEnd Psychiatry has many different therapy plans and means of communication to help make seeing a therapist easy.
Get active. People battling depression tend to loose motivation yet physical activity is a great form of behavioral activation. Invite your loved one on a walk. Exercise, sunshine and companionship all have antidepressant qualities.
Intentional sleeping habits. Our sleep patterns can be negatively affected by depression. Encourage your loved one to be intentional about getting a good night’s sleep through meditation, a healthy night time wind down routine and consistent bed times.
Keep talking. Maintaining regular contact with someone battling depression is key. Take time to listen without judgement or criticism. Social contact helps prevent alienation and seclusion.
Southend Psychiatry is here as you navigate the complexities of today. We can come alongside you or your loved one to offer support and help. Contact Southend Psych today to inquire about appointment availability and get on your way to a better you.
Southend Psychiatry
Schedule your appointment today with one of our SouthEnd Psychiatry clinicians. Book your appointment online or call 1-800-632-7969 to get started today.
Worry and anxiety are on the rise in our homes. We have been living in a state of seemingly insurmountable odds with the pandemic, a charged political arena, as well as everyday bumps along the road of life. While overcoming worry and anxiety may seem impossible, tried and true practical steps can be taken in order to live a life centered on contentment and growth.
Get Quality Sleep
One such practical step is simply to document your sleep schedule. While we all have internal rhythms that may vary, many of us fail to realize the importance of adequate sleep. Sleep provides our bodies with essential time for maintenance and repair of many of our life-giving organs, including our brains. When we miss sleep, our minds are not able to function at the highest levels, and that off-kilter feeling can give way to both worry and anxiety.
Make Easy Changes to Diet
Another practical habit to help you battle worry and anxiety is eating well. Anxiety induced by any number of toxins can take away a sense of balance and stability in your life. Take our addiction to caffeine for example. As a worried people, should we really be consuming vast quantities of products that increase our on-edge feelings? Sugar is also known to affect both our mood and our sleep patterns. Taking a close look at how your diet could be contributing to your feelings of worry and anxiety may uncover ways you can calm your mind and live a steadier life.
Release Endorphins Daily
And the third in the practical ideas line-up is, of course, exercise. Spending time working out can help reduce worry and anxiety as well. Humans burn energy, and it seems we can either burn it through the exercise our bodies need or through worrying endlessly in the middle of the night about things often beyond our control. So get outside, get active, and release those endorphins- you will be amazed at how this one change can help you sleep better and have less anxiety!
Again, these simple reminders – adequate sleep, diet, and exercise – may help you reduce worry and anxiety in your own life. A steady, prepared mind is something that we all strive for, and working on these three areas of your life will perhaps enable you to achieve that optimal state of mind.
Schedule your appointment today with one of our SouthEnd Psychiatry clinicians. Book your appointment online or call 1-800-632-7969 to get started today.
Unless you have gone to therapy or been close to someone seeking help for codependent tendencies, your perception of codependency is likely inaccurate in some ways. Aside from popular belief, the term does not refer to the behavior of people who “can’t do anything on their own” or “had parents who did everything for them growing up.” In fact, it often means quite the opposite.
And, believe it or not, codependency doesn’t just affect a small portion of the population! Some estimates suggest that close to 90% of people demonstrate codependent behavior in relationships, with many having realized they struggle with codependency only during and after COVID-19.
So, what is codependency, why do so many of us experience it, and how has COVID-19 made it worse? Keep reading for the answer to these questions and more.
What is Codependency?
Codependency is a pattern of behavior characterized by a mental, emotional, physical, and/or spiritual reliance on another person in a close relationship (e.g. spouse-spouse, friend-friend, coworker-boss, sibling-sibling, etc.). It can also be thought of as an imbalanced relationship in which one person (“the giver”) assumes the responsibility of meeting the needs of the other person (“the taker”) and, in doing so, cannot acknowledge their own feelings and needs to the point of personal detriment.
Codependent people are typically empathetic, highly capable, and independent in that they take care of everyone, including themselves, without asking for help. The problem with this ultra-independence is that it is impractical; we all have needs, and they can only go unmet for so long. And while codependents can maintain complacency for extended periods of time (months, years, sometimes decades), they do eventually become resentful of the lack of reciprocation from others and explode—either internally or externally.
At their core, codependents want to feel secure and wanted for their true selves, but in pursuit of this safe connection, they self-sacrifice so much that they end up losing all sense of themselves. In other words, by making others “need”/depend on them, they make the very thing they crave, authentic connection, impossible.
What Causes Codependency?
Codependency is not a personality disorder or clinical diagnosis but rather a learned behavior that can be passed down from one generation to another. Those who struggle with codependency usually developed the condition by watching and imitating other family members who managed situations of abuse, neglect, illness, addiction and other traumatic situations (usually within the family) the same way—by “fawning” (repressing one’s own needs in order to be loved and accepted, i.e. people-pleasing). But it goes deeper than that. At its root, the compulsion to self-deny is the result of a complex form of attachment disorder and PTSD developed in childhood. As children, codependents received inconsistent attention, affection, and emotional support from their parents—a sort of hot and cold dynamic interpreted by children as a reflection of their own inadequacy. To cope and thus reduce these feelings of abandonment, they learned to attain more consistent love through people-pleasing, a softer form of manipulation and control.
Unfortunately, as these children become adults, the fear never goes away (PTSD), driving them to continue fawning in hopes of never being abandoned again. What they don’t realize, though, is they are still being abandoned—only now by themselves. For these reasons, codependency can be considered a symptom or defense against PTSD.
…AKA relationship addiction
When we think of addiction, alcohol, drugs, sex, and gambling are the first words that come to mind, but a less commonly known form of addiction is the addiction to people, which is codependency in of itself. As codependents begin to only think of the thoughts, needs, and desires of the one they are pleasing (“the taker”), they are no longer able to identify their own. This enmeshment means that their only sense of worth derives from the praise, recognition, or affection they receive from the other person. Over time, this creates an addiction to the highs of validation and affirmation, much like the highs you would see in any other addiction. The codependent looks for ways to help, and they are rewarded with praise in return. On the flip side, when their help goes unnoticed and the other person withdraws, the codependent fears the relationship will end and falls in a state of severe emotional distress until they feel valued again. With time, the caretaking becomes compulsive, and the codependent experiences feelings of helplessness in the relationship, unable to break free.
Signs of Codependency
A tendency to do more than your share all the time.
Never asking for help; overwhelming yourself with tasks that others could do.
Fear of losing relationships/abandonment.
Fear of rejection.
Doing way more than the other person to hold onto your relationship.
An overwhelming need to be reassured and recognized.
A compelling desire to control others.
Lack of trust in yourself and/or others.
An exaggerated sense of responsibility for the actions of others.
A tendency to love people you can rescue.
Excessive concern with loved ones’ behaviors.
Constant feelings of hurt when people overlook your efforts.
Guilt after asserting yourself.
A tendency to apologize to keep the peace.
Difficulty naming your feelings or fully feeling them.
Minimizing your feelings when you do feel them.
Worrying about what others think of you.
Problem with creating and keeping boundaries.
Difficulty making decisions.
Dishonesty.
Doing things you don’t want to do to make others happy.
Poor communication in relationships.
Idealizing loved ones to the point of maintaining relationships that don’t fulfill you.
The Link Between Codependent Tendencies & COVID-19
COVID-19 has taken its toll on couples with underlying, previously unnoticable or manageable codependent tendencies. Without breaks from one another and access to other sources of fulfillment and support (such as exercise classes, lunch with friends, in-office work, etc.), many report feeding off of each other’s emotions more than ever and relying heavily on the relationship for every emotional need. Couples who don’t live together have also experienced strains on their relationship but for the opposite reason: not being able to spend enough time together due to shutdowns, quarantine, and limited date nights.
Amidst traumatic circumstances, slipping back into old ways—natural instincts—is normal. Just like with PTSD from childhood, PTSD from the accumulation of stresses caused by COVID-19 can cause codependent habits to resurface, worsen, or appear for the first time. If that is you, rest assured that there is hope. As mentioned above, codependency is a learned behavior, meaning it is possible to unlearn the compulsions causing you distress and negatively affecting your relationships. The best course of action is to seek help. A therapist can show you how to form healthy attachments in your relationships, establish your own identity, and assist you in healing from the triggering experiences you have had, whether in childhood or more recently.
The good news is, post-pandemic, our environments and circumstances are changing. With that, and professional support, how you are feeling will change too. Book your appointment online or call 1-800-632-7969 to get started today.
