Understanding depression is key to recovery…

Since it was first developed over twenty years ago, the human givens approach to psychotherapy has enabled tens of thousands of people to overcome depression and to move forward again with their lives. It works from the crucial understanding that the vast majority of mental ill health occurs when our innate emotional needs are not being met adequately enough or we are misusing, or haven’t developed, our innate resources. It is a powerful, holistic approach that is tailored to each individual, focusing not on what’s wrong with them but on what’s isn’t working in their  lives – that is what it then addresses, whilst empowering people at the same time to cope well with future setbacks.

You can read Nina’s full story of how just three sessions of human givens therapy lifted out of her suicidal depression and turned her life around here

There is so much you can do TODAY to help yourself, or someone who is struggling with depression – please check out the resources on this page and share them with anyone you think may also find them helpful.

Many people find this information helps them take the first steps on a road to recovery that might be a shorter journey than you think. Others may need a little more help, in the form of effective brief psychotherapy from a qualified professional therapist, and this is covered below too.

The many insights encompassed in the HG approach dispel the myths surrounding depression; they clearly demonstrate how and why people become depressed; they explain why depression causes people to wake up feeling exhausted and unmotivated – and how stress, dreaming and depression are intrinsically linked. Offering practical, step-by-step help and techniques for quickly breaking the patterns of depression, the HG approach empowers people to regain control over their lives. It equips them with essential new skills for establishing and maintaining wellbeing – and specific tools to help them cope with any future setbacks in their lives without sinking back into depression, anxiety or addictive behaviours.

Depression can affect any of us, at any time. Feeling tired, miserable, sad and uninterested in life, for long periods, is lonely and exhausting.

When depression strikes it can affect your sleep, your physical health, your sexual desire, your power of concentration, your thinking and your relationships with the people around you. The more severe the symptoms become, the more difficult normal daily activities are, and life can begin to feel meaningless.

Even people who have experienced – and overcome – depression in the past, may still feel unable to prevent it swallowing them again; depression can feel like a demon, a life sentence, and an unavoidable curse.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

In most cases, the cycle of depression can be escaped, often surprisingly easily – without medication. With the right knowledge, depression can be totally outwitted, banished and annihilated. Understanding depression – what really causes it, how it is directly connected with our quality of sleep, and how its cycle can either perpetuate – or be broken – is key to beating it.

One session of human givens therapy was enough to transform the life of Sarah, a depressed single mother. You can read her full story here