Severe depression is quite easy to identify. Most people know that they’re dealing with depression when they are experiencing these more extreme versions of this emotion. However, if you’re dealing with lower levels of depression, you may not even know this. You might feel a sense that there is something missing in your life. You might also notice that you don’t care about things, or that you’re searching for something that you can’t find. You may even think that there is nothing wrong at all.
Often, our assumptions about depression are that you must feel an intense sense of immobilization. The truth is that you may be dealing with some level of depression, but you make it to work on time and have a decent level of motivation. These emotions can impact your relationships, your decisions, and make you too reactive. If you have a sense that something is missing from your life, there is a strong chance that you are dealing with a low level of depression.
In order to work through a sense that something is missing in your life, you have to first recognize ways that you have coped in the past. You might use a distraction or series of distractions to deal with this. You may work more, go shopping, date, etc. These things aren’t harmful by themselves, but they can be harmful if you’re not dealing with the underlying emotional problems that you’re experiencing.
To deal with this sense, you may also benefit from identifying your strengths and values. This will help keep you from becoming too reactive in your decision making. There is no way that you will be content in your life if you don’t live by your personal values and strengths. We tend to have a vague sense of what those are, yet people often don’t apply these in their daily lives. To reach personal goals, you want to make decisions based on your strengths and values, so that you know all of your decisions, planning, and reactions are following your living mission statement. You’ll be more in touch with how you are feeling about your life, and you’ll be less likely to react to negative undertones, which can wreak havoc in the long-run.
