How do I know if it’s depression or just a difficult patch?

Everyone has hard periods. Depression often involves persistence and impact: low mood or numbness most days, loss of pleasure, reduced motivation, changes in sleep and energy, and difficulty functioning as you normally would. Therapy can help either way, especially if you feel stuck.

What if I feel numb rather than sad?

That can still be depression. Numbness is often the mind and nervous system protecting you from overload. Therapy helps you understand what’s happening and gradually reconnect with emotion and meaning.

Can depression be caused by burnout or chronic stress?

Yes. Prolonged stress can leave the nervous system depleted and shut down. Therapy helps you recover, rebuild steadier routines, and change the patterns that keep you overextended.

Does CBT work for depression?

CBT is one of the most established therapies for depression, particularly when it targets rumination, withdrawal, self-criticism, and behavioural shutdown. We also integrate ACT and compassion-focused work where that better fits your needs.

What if I’m on medication, or considering it?

Medication decisions are best made with a GP or prescribing clinician. Therapy can work alongside medication by addressing patterns, coping, relationships, and meaning, and by helping you rebuild functioning in daily life.

Do you offer depression therapy in London and online?

Yes. We offer therapy in London and online across the UK.

Depression Therapy

Depression can feel like life has lost its colour. You might feel low, flat, heavy, or numb. You may struggle to get going, even when you’re doing the “right” things, and it can be frightening to notice how much effort daily life starts to take.

For some people, depression looks like sadness and tears. For others it looks like emptiness, irritability, withdrawal, or functioning on the outside while privately feeling hopeless. Many people blame themselves for not coping, which adds a layer of shame to an already painful experience.

At Hampstead Psychology, we offer evidence-based therapy for depression in London and online across the UK. We help you understand what’s maintaining the depression, reduce the patterns that keep you stuck, and rebuild steadiness and meaning over time.

This page is for information and does not replace a clinical assessment, diagnosis, or medical advice.

When depression starts to take over

You might recognise some of these experiences:

You feel persistently low, flat, or emotionally numb.
Things that used to matter feel pointless, or you can’t feel pleasure in them.
Getting out of bed, working, or managing daily tasks takes huge effort.
You withdraw from people, messages, and plans because it feels too much.
Your mind is harsh with you, and self-criticism feels relentless.
You feel guilty for struggling, or like you’re letting people down.
Your sleep changes — difficulty sleeping, waking early, or sleeping more than usual.
Your energy is low, and even small tasks feel overwhelming.
You feel stuck in your head, ruminating or replaying regrets.
You worry you won’t feel like yourself again.

If this fits, it doesn’t mean you’re weak. Depression is often a mix of biology, stress, loss, overwhelm, and the mind’s attempt to protect you by shutting down. Therapy helps you understand the pattern and begin moving again, gently and purposefully.

How depression can show up

Low mood, heaviness, and loss of pleasure

Depression can change how the world feels. Motivation drops, the future feels smaller, and enjoyment is harder to access. People often interpret this as personal failure, but it’s a common part of the depression cycle. Therapy helps you rebuild movement and meaning without relying on willpower alone.

Numbness, shutdown, and “functioning on the outside”

Some people don’t feel sad — they feel blank. Others keep functioning at work or in family life while privately feeling detached and exhausted. Depression can be quiet and hidden, and therapy creates space to understand what your system is doing and why.

Self-criticism and hopeless thinking

Depression often comes with a particular kind of thinking: global, harsh conclusions about the self, the world, and the future. The mind can start treating hope as dangerous or naïve. Therapy helps you relate differently to these thoughts and reduce their power.

Irritability, anxiety, and agitation

Depression is not always slow and quiet. Some people feel restless, irritable, tense, or anxious alongside low mood. Therapy helps you understand the interaction between anxiety, pressure, and low mood so treatment is targeted.

Related difficulties we often see alongside depression

Depression often overlaps with anxiety, stress and burnout, insomnia, perfectionism, chronic self-criticism, relationship strain, and grief. It can also follow prolonged stress, illness, hormonal changes, parenting demands, or major life transitions.

Therapy takes the whole picture into account while keeping the work focused and practical.

Medical input alongside therapy

Depression can have physical and medical contributors, and it can also affect appetite, sleep, and energy in ways that deserve proper attention. If you have concerns about your physical health, or if medication is part of your care, we recommend appropriate medical input alongside therapy through your GP or prescribing clinician.

What keeps depression going?

Depression is often maintained by a loop that makes sense in the moment.

You feel low, depleted, or overwhelmed.
You withdraw, rest excessively, or stop doing the things that once gave structure and meaning.
Life becomes smaller and more effortful, and the mind has more space to ruminate.
Self-criticism increases, and the future starts to feel hopeless.
The cycle deepens, and action feels even harder.

Therapy helps you step out of this loop by rebuilding movement, connection, and meaning in a paced way, while reducing rumination and harsh self-attack.

How therapy for depression helps

At Hampstead Psychology, we use approaches that are widely used in evidence-based psychological practice. Depending on your needs, this may include CBT, ACT, compassion-focused work, and schema-informed therapy.

In practice, therapy often involves understanding your depression pattern clearly and working on the points where it can shift. That may include gently rebuilding routine and activity, reducing rumination, working with self-criticism, strengthening emotional regulation, and reconnecting with values and meaning. We also pay attention to the way depression affects relationships, because isolation and disconnection can keep low mood entrenched.

The aim isn’t to force positivity. It’s to help you feel more alive again, in a way that is realistic and sustainable.

What to expect from sessions

We begin by understanding your experience in context: when the depression began, what has been happening in your life, what you’ve tried, what helps, and what makes it worse. We develop a shared map and agree clear therapy goals.

Sessions are collaborative and paced. You’ll leave with insight that feels usable and practical steps to try between sessions, reviewed and refined over time. We work gently but purposefully, because depression often improves through steady movement rather than big motivational pushes.

How long does therapy take?

This varies. Some people benefit from focused work when depression is linked to a specific period of stress, burnout, or life transition. Others need longer, especially when depression has been recurrent, longstanding, or closely tied to trauma, identity, or entrenched self-criticism.

We review progress together so therapy stays purposeful and aligned with your goals.

Depression therapy in Hampstead and online

We offer depression therapy in person in London and online across the UK. Many people choose online sessions for convenience and flexibility, and it can be just as effective when you have a quiet, confidential space.

Take the next step

If depression has left you feeling flat, stuck, or unlike yourself, you don’t have to manage it alone. With the right support, things can shift — not through forcing positivity, but through steady, meaningful change.

Contact Hampstead Psychology to enquire about depression therapy in London or online.

Useful links: Anxiety Therapy, Stress and Burnout, Insomnia and Sleep Problems, Grief and Bereavement, Therapy for Men, Fees, Meet the Team, Contact.

Urgent Help

If you are worried about immediate risk to your safety, call 999 or go to A&E. If you need urgent support but it isn’t an emergency, contact NHS 111 or your GP. You can also contact Samaritans on 116 123 (24/7).

Meet The Team

At Hampstead Psychology, all of our psychologists have extensive training to doctoral level and decades of experience in their field of expertise. You will be matched with a psychologist that has the knowledge and skill to help you understand and overcome your problem - not just in the short term but for good.