There are a lot of reasons why people engage in psychotherapy. The most common reason for this is extreme depression. While it is true that every person encounters different problems of their own, there are people who are having difficulties handling the problems that hound them. This just means that from time to time, there are people who would be needing professional help to get them back on the right track.

There are a couple of formats that psychotherapists follow and a patient has the right to choose which one may possibly be the best choice.

Individual Therapy is a type of therapy wherein there is a one-on-one conversation between the patient and the therapist. This allows the patient to have the full attention of the therapist but it does not allow the therapist to assess the patient based on his social or family relationships.

Family therapy is a type of therapy that involves the family as a group.

Group therapy involves around 3- 15 patients. It gives the patients the opportunity to receive support from people with particular issues. The good thing about this type of therapy is that it may be less expensive and it gives the patients the feeling of belongingness.

Couple’s Therapy is geared towards the betterment of married couples or those who are in a significant other type of relationship who wants to improve their relationship and functioning as a couple.

Okay. You are depressed. You are willing to take prozac if your doctor prescribes it and you determined to undergo a psychotherapy for the betterment of your well-being. You have your wallet ready for spending some bucks and arrange your schedule for your sessions. But wait, those are not the kind of preparations that you should really do…. because there are more important things that you should prepare….

1. Opening yourself up. Once you decide that you will undergo such therapy, you should consider that you are going to open up to someone you don’t know. Your shrink, despite his/her profession, is still a stranger, and if you have “trust issues,” you better let go of them, for it will be pointless if you are not letting out all of your burden.

2. Getting back to those moments. Once you and your psychologist starts to talk about your life, you are going to look back some of the painful days that you once had – even the most devastating ones. There can be tears and anger, but you need to release it too by telling your shrink everything about it.

3. Cooperation. Your shrink might give you a series of tasks that you need to do. When this takes place, you have to follow his/her instructions and cooperate.

Once the essence of these things have sunk in, it means that you really are ready for psychotherapy. However, bear in mind that it may take time for recovery and healing process. And when this is all done, you’d be someone you never thought you’d be.

Since Prozac has been a significant matter in depression, and since it has been mentioned in my previous write-up, I think this is the perfect time to discuss how these small capsules can affect one’s depressed condition big time.

Prozac (as what was mentioned on my previous blog) is a serotonin neurotransmitter under the drug group called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRI. It is an anti-depressant used to complement psychotherapy of those who are detected to have clinical depression.

It has been introduced by Eli Lilly a global pharmaceutical company back in the 80’s. Since it reduces depressing factors in the body (like drugs that can affect one’s depressing mood), it produces serotonin to make someone feel better. For people who are already accustomed to this, their sleeping and eating patterns start to get regular. On the other hand, as effective as these drugs are, there are side effects that can be experienced through the period of medication. Headache, fever, diarrhea, nausea, sweating, seizures, and heartburn are some of its side effects.

On the other hand, prozac has strict rules. Just because it gives happy moods to the depressed patient doesn’t mean that you, a non-clinically depressed person, can use it. Prozac is forbidden to those who have liver disease, and of course, to those who are allergic to it. Pregnant women should also be careful of it because of the possibility that it may affect the child inside the womb.

Determining that you have depression can be a great help to solve your issues, but that won’t take away the fact that it won’t be easy in doing so. Clearly, that feeling of worthlessness might pull you down until you find yourself more depressed. It’s time to take actions – effective ways to get save you from being more psychologically crashed….. But how? Well, here are some tips….

1. Always remind yourself that you are also special. The feeling of being useless or a piece of failure has a large effect on depressed person. If your situation is similar to this, then always think yourself as someone who is also important, a person of significance – and you have to think this way - always.

2. Express your thoughts. Keeping it to yourself can only burden you more. Have a journal as a medium to release your emotions if you can’t talk to someone. Better yet, tell the person you trust about your problems. He/she might not be a big help, but the gesture you just made creates a difference.

3. Have a therapy. Undergoing a psychotherapy with the guidance of a professional is one of the best ways to heal those wounds. Since they are experts on this field, they can handle your situation with a vast knowledge about your depression, thus, helping you to do get through your healing process.

Something that impales you. Something that paralyzes you. Something that makes you stuck in the middle of nothingness. GRIEF…. I love how that sounds…. Something that I love to use in my write-ups…. Yet it is something that I never want to experience.

I have used the idea of grief in many fictions I wrote. Though they were just a creation, I can still feel the weight of it. I never experienced it, but since I have used that subject for a while, I guess I learn some stuff about it.

One of the things I learned is how to cope with it…..

1. Wallow – It’s not wrong to act childlike sometimes, crying yourself to sleep, not eating meals, locking yourself in your room. If it were your expressions of grief, then it’s okay. Some people say that it’s better to let your feelings out than to smile and let it inside for a long time. With this, the tendency is that you won’t be able to move on…..

2. Acceptance – Acceptance will be the only way to overcome grief. You lost something important…. You’re not going to take that back…. So just accept it. It can be hard to accept something you grieve about, but this is something that will make you stronger and better.

There are other things I learn about it, and I know someday, I would be the one experiencing it, not the characters I pulled from my mind. But hey, I am being optimistic, so when that comes, at least I have ideas on what to do.

Exceeding your limits to achieve your goal can be excruciating, especially when it’s failure you meet in the end, and not that success you are dreaming about. And later, it can hit you with pain and frustration. Because it seems like the end of everything, hopes can be difficult to find and there can be more struggles in gong back to the road you once take.

Frustrations can be too tough to handle, so here are some tips on how to beat them before it hits you and puts you in low self-esteem.

“Let frustration be your motivation.” This is a statement that encourages optimism among those who are frustrated. Instead of getting down from failure, put your head up and use it as an inspiration to get better.

Reflect on what happened. “What went wrong?” Ask yourself this question and it will help you reflect on your strengths and weaknesses. And since you’re using that frustration as your motivation, you will be working on your weakness until it becomes your strength.

Failure is a part of the process. Accept the fact that it’s not always that you get the best things in life. Remember the famous phrase, “Life is like a wheel,” where there will be times when you are not on top. So, if things don’t go according to your expectations, accept it whole-heartedly because it’s part of your betterment.

It was another day in their campus. She puts her thick eyeglasses, her clothes are the usual ones that she wears. It was a long, black denim skirt, and a tank top with a huge skull at the center, her body piercings brimming at the bright sunlight. Her lipstick is crimson black, and so is her eye shadow and mascara.

She stands out among the crowd, but in a negative way. While the others wear brightly-colored top and cute skirts, hers is pitch-black. For the students, Martha is the personification of a witch, a person who keeps a voodoo doll as her own version of Barbie and reads books of witchcraft as her bible. Of course, none of their judgments are true. Her appearance, though different from the others, is her way of expressing herself. Apparently, no one appreciates her sense of art.

Her eccentric nature triggers her detachment. No one wants to mingle with the so-called witch. None of them wants to share table with her during lunch. Group activities mean individual projects for her. Who would want to team up with this odd girl, anyway?

It’s not like Martha wants this. She is a kind-hearted person who just wants to be true o herself. If a person couldn’t accept her for what she is, then she’d better be aloof. But then again, she craves for companionship, that feeling that there will be someone for you. Nevertheless, her unspoken wish would never be heard…. for Martha is nothing but a dark witch in their class.

This is a blog for people who are hiding in the shadows, depriving themselves from this “silver lining” and scared from the inner-monsters that kept them extremely down. The words written here might be speaking your feeling…. because my existence used to be a phantom. However, my words are not meant to bury your flesh deeper, but to share the changes I already started.

I understand why I denied myself a psychological therapy even when I knew I really needed one. People had a way of jumping into conclusions in the most foolish way, thinking that you’ve gone mad or have become a complete psychopath once once you start seeing a shrink. I, being one of these idiots, thought of the same way. I also had this burden of believing that my situation was shameful, so I kept on concealing it myself even if I knew it would hurt me more. Thus, I deprived myself for getting a help from a professional, making my depression even worse.

As I expected, things have become worse. I didn’t know how to stand up, because my self-worth has stopped me from doing so. I guess this was the result of being abused by the person who used to be the dearest for you. Believing in every word he said was only natural, especially when you valued him in the most overwhelming way. It was a wonderful feeling at first, but little by little it became poignant. But because I valued him with every inch of my flesh, I remained silent just to keep him, even though it hurt me – sexually, physically, emotionally. And so, here I was, a person who no longer had a self-worth.

But something happened. On that day, my mother found out about this burden. I had a self-journal as the only medium to somehow ease this pain and she had read about everything. I guess it was more painful for her, knowing her daughter, the girl she had hopes for, was crashed by a guy who didn’t seem to have a soul. She was open-minded, unlike us who thought that psychological therapy only belonged for the psychopaths. Understanding my needs, she encouraged me to undergo a therapy with a professional. And it was then…. it was then when I finally gathered my courage to face my inner-demons that had been haunting me for a long time.

It wasn’t easy at first. Opening yourself to a stranger, even if she’s a psychiatrist was difficult. But I knew I had to speak, otherwise, everything would turn pointless. As I went on with my story, my doctor realized that I had chronic depression, meaning I have been clinically depressed for a years. She then gave me several assignments aimed for the betterment of my condition and prescribed me a medicine called Zoloft, an anti-depressant.

I am still undergoing to this therapy. I would be a complete fool if I said that I am healed. This sadness, lack of self-worth, low self-esteem, and a feeling of solitude are still here. Nevertheless, there are changes. Thinking that it’s not shameful to undergo a psychological therapy is one. That it is alright to feel this way. And that changes can still be done, even in the people felt hopeless and lost.