We understand that people can be nervous about joining online groups and discussing mental health issues. So, we've put together a course spotlight to make things a little easier when you're deciding which of our courses will be best for you. Here is a more information about our Understanding Depression online course, which starts 8th November.
Depression is more than simply feeling unhappy or fed up for a few days. It’s when you persistently feel sad or upset for weeks or months. Sometimes, there’s a trigger for depression. Life-changing events, such as bereavement, money problems or even giving birth can instigate it.
Depression affects people in different ways and can cause a wide variety of symptoms that range from feelings of hopelessness and sadness, to losing interest in the things you used to enjoy and feeling very tearful. Most people with depression also have symptoms of anxiety too. Aside from emotional symptoms, people with depression often feel tired, sleep badly, have no appetite or sex drive as well as experiencing severe aches and pains.
1 in 4 people in the UK will be diagnosed with depression in their lifetime (ONS). Depression is a real illness with real symptoms. It is not a sign of weakness or something you can just ‘snap out of’ by ‘pulling yourself together’. On a positive note, depression doesn’t last forever. People who suffer with depression often make a full recovery.
However, identifying when support is needed is extremely important, that’s why we have created a course spotlight to make things a little easier when deciding which type of support will be best for you.
Can you tell us a bit about this course, who it’s aimed at and what it aims to achieve?
Understanding Depression is a 4-week online course providing information on depression. This course will uncover the differences between ‘feeling low’ and clinical depression, signs and symptoms of depression, how depression affects an individual’s life as well as the lives of their family and friends, self-help techniques to cope with depression for yourself or to support others and where to go for further help.
This course is aimed at those who find their feelings or low mood are stopping them from getting on with their life and those who feel like they haven’t been themselves for a long time.
Our Understanding Depression course is aimed to help you cope with depression by helping you to identify personal triggers as well as learning self-help techniques to cope with the illness. Alternatively this course is also available to those who are looking to seek a better understanding to support their ones
Key takeaway from this course: Depression is a common mental health illness. You are not alone.
What has been your experience of attending a BeWell@StepOne online course?
Here are some comments from our people who have previously attended our BeWell@StepOne courses:
