LA: City of Angels or City of Tears?

Do you no longer find pleasure in life? Drive through traffic without noticing the world around you? Feel numb, hopeless and alone? Depression can make you feel like a stranger to yourself and make you do and think things that you never thought you would. It takes you over making you feel lost and alone. 

You might notice yourself pulling away from those closest to you, staying in to sleep rather than enjoy things that you love. Yet, at the same time longing to have someone understand what it feels like.

I have noticed that living in Los Angeles, these types of feelings can be even more common. Between the hours being stuck alone in traffic, the distance between friends and family members, a high cost of living and social pressure to fit the “Hollywood” label of success, it can be a brutal world out there.

 So many clients that I have worked with have come in feeling “worthless, not good enough, like a failure”the list goes on and on.  When surrounded by thousands of luxury cars, mansions, millionaires and models/actresses on a daily basis, it’s even harder to feel good about yourself. Many people move here in search of “the dream” only to realize it is a concrete jungle of broken dreams, credit card debt and plastic surgery.

This “image based” culture makes it THAT much harder for those going through depression. In a city that is so spread out, it can be difficult to make new friendships and maintain a connection. Isolation becomes normal and before you know it, you begin feeling like there is no way out.

In my work with clients, I have seen so many people overcome the darkness of their depression and realize that they are more than their pant size, a brand of car or number in their bank account. It is in the moments when you feel alone, scared and uncertain that there is the most opportunity to get to know yourself. Being vulnerable and asking for support is so hard when everything inside of you is saying, “suck it up and deal with it on your own.”  The reality is that none of us can do it on our own and sometimes we need to ask for help. Depression is real and it can feel endless while going through it.

Please know that you are not alone.