In the modern world, more and more people suffer from depression and constant stress. According to WHO estimates, depression is one of the most common disorders striking 280 million people. Residents of Leeds are no exception and suffer from depression as well. That’s why the city has Leeds Mental Wellbeing Service (LMWS), which offers free online courses to deal with stress, anxiety and depression. Learn more about these psychological disorders and the work of LMWS at leedska.
Depression is not just a bad mood
A few decades ago, people didn’t know about depression. However, it is a pressing problem today, as it affects more and more people. Doctors note that depression is a mental health disorder. Its main symptoms are unwillingness to do something, bad temper and apathy. A person with depression has no interest in life and no strength and desire to perform routine tasks. It is worth noting that depression is more common in women than in men.
Sometimes, depression is confused with a bad mood. After all, when you feel blue, you also have no desire to do anything, you are sad and want to cry. In fact, these are different conditions that can have similar symptoms. Leeds psychologists note that depression can be distinguished from a bad mood by its continuation. The latter is a temporary phenomenon that can last for several days, while depression is a mental disorder that affects a person’s feelings, thoughts and behaviour.
Leeds Mental Wellbeing Service (LMWS) can help with depression
As you’ve already understood, depression is a disease that needs to be treated. Therefore, Leeds Mental Wellbeing Service (LMWS) helps women and men cope with stress, anxiety, panic attacks and depression.
LMWS offers free online courses, provides psychological therapy and holds master classes.
If you want to attend LMWS online courses, you must be at least 17 years old and registered with Leeds General Infirmary. During the registration, the patient has to answer a few questions so that the specialists make sure that Leeds Mental Wellbeing Service will be able to cover their needs. During the conversation, LMWS staff will find out which psychologist you will be more comfortable working with.
In general, LMWS holds free monthly online courses and one-time classes. You will be taught practical methods of solving various mental health problems. The classes cover such topics as stress, bad mood, depression, insomnia, motivation, panic attacks, etc.
LMWS courses
As you have already understood, Leeds Mental Wellbeing Service organises various courses that help to cope with depression, fear and panic. For example,
- the course for overcoming stress and bad mood, which lasts six weeks and is designed to teach people to deal with frequent bad moods and stresses
- post-depression rehabilitation groups. These are online classes that help overcome depression and restore the patient’s mental health.
- the course related to stress management
- the course about managing panic
- the course aimed at good and sound sleep
- the course for improving motivation
- the course about a bad mood and unhelpful thinking.
Advice from Leeds psychologists: do not engage in self-medication
Modern people are increasingly looking for medical information on the Internet and self-diagnosing themselves. Then they independently treat those “diagnoses”. Depression isn’t an exception and patients try to diagnose it themselves. However, in most cases, they just have chronic fatigue syndrome, nervous tension or seasonal affective disorder. All of this doesn’t require taking antidepressants.
Instead, the Leeds psychologists recommend using positive affirmations and exercises focusing on breathing and heartbeat. Such activities are beneficial for your mental health because they are aimed at normalising the autonomic nervous system. You can also use the following advice:
- Take up sports, walks or some classes. It will help you forget about bad thoughts and focus on physical exercises.
- Pour out your soul. Sometimes, it is enough to talk with a loved one to improve your psychological state.
- Read a book or watch a movie. A sentimental movie, series or book can also help cope with a bad mood or autumn depression. Sometimes, it switches our thoughts and we start to look at things differently.
- Change your routine. Travel is great medicine for our mental health.
Still, clinical depression shouldn’t be treated independently. You must consult a doctor because such a condition is treated both psychologically and medically.
We hope that our article was informative and you made the appropriate conclusions. Have you ever suffered from depression?