Low mood
A low mood isn't always sadness. Sometimes it feels like losing your connection to yourself.
Depression or a low mood can be difficult to explain, especially to people who haven't experienced it.
You may feel flat, disconnected, or as though life has become something you're simply getting through. Things that once brought joy no longer seem to matter. Conversations feel harder. Decisions take more effort. Even replying to a message can feel overwhelming.
Sometimes it feels like carrying a weight that nobody else can see. Other times, it feels like nothing at all.
Many people describe feeling emotionally numb rather than sad. They continue going to work, looking after their families, and doing everything that's expected of them. From the outside, they seem to be coping. Inside, they feel as though they've disappeared.
Depression can leave people feeling incredibly alone.
Depression changes more than your mood. It can change the way you experience yourself, other people, and the world around you.
Depression isn't a sign of weakness or failure. For many people, it develops gradually. It can follow trauma, prolonged stress, burnout, grief, difficult relationships, loneliness, or years of carrying more than feels manageable. Sometimes there's a clear reason. Sometimes there isn't.
When we live under prolonged emotional strain, our minds and bodies naturally begin to conserve energy. We withdraw. We stop reaching out. Things that once felt manageable begin to feel overwhelming.
The difficulty is that depression often convinces us that this is simply who we are.
It isn't.
Therapy isn't about forcing yourself to think positively or pretending everything is okay. It's about understanding what has happened, making sense of the experiences that may have contributed to how you're feeling, and gently reconnecting with the parts of yourself that have become difficult to reach.
Change rarely happens overnight. But many people find that as they begin to understand themselves more deeply, the heaviness starts to lift, hope begins to return, and life gradually feels possible again.
Therapists who work with low mood and depression
James Sloane
Works with adults (18+)
Nichola Magner
Works with adults (18+)