Depression or exhaustion? How to tell it’s time to see a psychologist

Everyone knows tiredness: after a hard week you just want to lie down and do nothing. But sometimes rest doesn’t help. The weekend passes and your energy doesn’t come back. How can you tell ordinary exhaustion from depression, and when should you ask for help?

How tiredness differs from depression

Ordinary tiredness is linked to how much you’ve been carrying, and it eases when you sleep well, rest or take time off. You can still enjoy things: seeing friends or doing something you love still gives you energy.

Depression works differently. Low mood lasts most of the day, nearly every day, and rest barely changes it. A key sign is that the ability to enjoy things fades: what you used to like starts to feel flat.

Signs to take seriously

Professionals pay attention when several of these last for two weeks or longer:

• low mood, emptiness or irritability;
• losing interest in things you used to enjoy;
• constant tiredness and no energy even for simple tasks;
• sleep problems: insomnia, or sleeping 10–12 hours;
• changes in appetite and weight;
• difficulty concentrating and making decisions;
• guilt, feeling worthless or like you’re letting everyone down;
• thoughts that you don’t want to live.

This list is not a diagnosis: only a professional can make one after talking with you. But if you recognise yourself in several points, it’s a reason not to put things off.

When to see a psychologist

• It has lasted more than two weeks and isn’t getting better.
• Work, study or time with the people close to you has become harder.
• You increasingly avoid people and activities that used to matter.
• You notice you’re only holding on through willpower.

If thoughts of harming yourself or ending your life appear, don’t wait: call 103 (or your local emergency number) or reach out to someone close to you right now. With severe depression it’s also important to see a psychiatrist: sometimes medication is needed, and it works well alongside psychotherapy.

How Gestalt therapy helps

In the Gestalt approach we look closely at what is happening for you now: which feelings have gone numb, which needs have gone unmet for a long time, and where you stopped relying on yourself. Gradually, contact with your own wants returns, and your energy comes back with it.

Therapy doesn’t require you to know in advance exactly what’s going on. A sense that life has become harder than it used to be is enough.

The first step

If you recognised yourself in this article, you can start with a free first session. We’ll calmly talk through what’s going on and decide how best to move forward. Sessions take place online and in person, in Uzbek, Russian or English.