Depression
“I give up, I can´t go on; I feel like a battery that has run out of energy. I have lost interest over everything, including life. All my thoughts are negative and pessimistic. I do not see any future for me. I feel like I'm trapped in a deep pit without being able to get out. I would like to fight, but I cannot.”
Depression, in its different types, has become one of the main diseases of the 21st century. Most patients, however, respond well to treatment, especially when various therapeutic tools are used together (medications, psychotherapy, support). Thus it is possible to say again “good morning life”, instead of the painful “good morning, sadness”.
Grief
“Thank you. You were the person who helped me to grieve properly when I was devastated by the death of my son” (words of a mother, fifteen years after she had come to talk to me).
What does it mean to “grieve properly”? Grief always hurts and there are no magic formulas to avoid it. It is the price paid in pain for a valuable and meaningful relationship. Grief is the other side of love, in fact it is a posthumous expression of love. From this perspective all grief has a positive and healing dimension. It is not necessary to repress it, but to channel it.
For this reason, understanding our feelings, thoughts or reactions during grief is essential for the healing of the wound. The more we understand what is happening, the less difficult it will be for us to recover. As Tolstoy said: “Man cannot be master of anything while he fears death. All things belong to the one who no longer fears death.”
Stress exhaustion or “burnout”
“If you have the bow always tense, it will break very soon” (Plato in Phaedrus).
Emotional exhaustion is one of the most frequent causes today of work leave and nervous breakdowns. Fortunately, a number of symptoms warn us before we get to the point of “burnout” in the same way that a light on the car's dashboard reminds us that we are running out of gasoline: irritability, sleep problems, difficulties to concentrate, insomnia, fatigue, loss of energy, etc. Identifying these warnings will allow us to correct them on time.
The problem is not occasional stress, but permanent stress. Occasional stress fulfils a positive function and is necessary to survive. Chronic stress, on the other hand, is like a toxic that slowly kills you. The goal of treatment, therefore, is not to get rid of all stress, but to learn to control it. We need to be masters of our stress, not slaves. Chronic stress is a reminder that something needs to be changed: excessive perfectionism, difficulty to say “no”, addiction to work.
Anxiety disorders
“Irrational fears accompany me almost all day. I live as in a state of permanent concern. I anticipate events in a pessimistic way and sometimes I have panic attacks with sweat and shortness of breath.”
Anxiety can manifest itself in different ways: irrational fears (phobias), unwanted thoughts (obsessions), hypochondria (excessive concern for health), panic attacks, fear of leaving home (agoraphobia) or even physical symptoms (headache, digestive, cardiovascular problems).
Anxiety disorders are a like a mirror of our current way of life: insecurity, uncertainty about the future, constant changes, broken relationships, job fragility. This social landscape becomes a fertile ground where anguish grows. The treatment of anxiety, therefore, must go beyond medications; it requires caring for the whole person, including their existential needs: identity (who am I?), purpose (what is the meaning of life?) and hope (what happens after death?)
