Is it normal for depression to get worse before therapy?
After nearly 8 years of thinking I could beat my depression, I am finally making progress to go and seek therapy. There's just one problem: my depression is getting significantly worse now. Is it normal for that to happen before you go to therapy?
@John04
It could, it's definitely a posibility! Talk to your therapist and dig into it a bit more about this. It's worth figuring out.
It depends on how you are feeling worse.
Sometimes it feels easier to just cope with depression. You remain numb 90% of the time and you try to survive the 10% when you have really bad episodes. When you start going to therapy and working on building yourself back up, you start realizing that you don't have to be numb all the time and you can want to be more energized and happy. When that happens, the depression can feel worse in the process of you getting better because you've changed your expectation from just coping to wanting something better for yourself.
Other times the depression could worsen, whether due to therapy or other causes.
We wouldn't be able to give a good answer, which is why I recommend speaking to your therapist and find out where you are in relation to all of this.
Sending you lots and lots of love <3
@John04 I think you're incredibly strong and persevering for still being here and still fighting years on. I think it's wonderful that you have the courage to keep pushing through. The power for those to push through, years devoid of hope or happiness, is highly underrated. :)
@John04
I've definitely heard that it gets worse before it gets better, but it could be a good thing to talk to your therapist about if you re already seeing them. You seem to be doing good though, reaching out and asking for help. That shows courage and a want to get better. That is one of the biggest helpful tools you can have!