4 Ways EMDR Can Help You When You Have Depression

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) has been around for decades. It was originally used as an effective treatment for trauma patients who were dealing with frightening flashbacks and painful memories. 

However, more recently, EMDR has expanded to be used as a treatment for things like addiction, anxiety, and depression. 

Depression is one of the most common mental health conditions in the world, but it’s also the most manageable when you find a treatment that fits your needs. 

Whether you’ve tried other forms of therapy and medication before or you just want to try something different, EMDR can provide a lot of help when you have depression, and make your symptoms easier to deal with. 

Let’s look at four ways EMDR can make it easier to manage depression, and why it might be the best solution for you.

1. It Targets Your Triggers

Depression often stems from negative beliefs or harmful self-talk. Those things can serve as triggers to fuel your most hopeless and helpless thoughts and feelings. 

If your brain immediately jumps to the worst possible conclusions when those thoughts start to enter, it’s easy for depression to wear you out very quickly.

EMDR can help by changing the triggers or thoughts that contribute to your depression. 

Your therapist will first work with you to discover your most common negative thoughts or phrases of self-talk, and you’ll work from there to change the way you “hear” those things, so they don’t seem as powerful. 

2. It Can Change Your Perspective

Maybe you don’t have specific triggers, but your depression has caused you to have a negative outlook on life. 

EMDR can help to change that outlook by shifting your perspective on certain situations. The things you might see as hopeless can be turned around into something that inspires you and motivates you for the future.

3. It Goes Back to the Start

Most therapies designed to help depression (including most talk therapies) start by helping you get to the root cause of your mental health issue. 

EMDR can help you by going back to the initial event that first triggered your depression. That holds true even if it stems back to your childhood. It will allow you to become desensitized to that event. Then, you can reprocess it in a way that doesn’t have such a hold on you anymore.

4. You’ll Have the Power Over What’s Happening to You

One of the reasons why EMDR is so effective for PTSD is that it takes away the fear from flashbacks and past imagery. 

It works the same way with depression. Those memories and triggers will still occur. However, you’ll be able to manage them effectively and from a new perspective instead of letting them completely take over. 

Your brain will “store away” those thoughts and memories. They don’t disappear, and you may never be able to keep them from popping up every now and then. However, your past won’t seem as daunting when you have a new outlook on them.

That new outlook will give you a greater feeling of power and self-confidence when it comes to your own mental state. As a result, the symptoms of depression will improve by making it easier to focus on the positive aspects of your life. 

When you have a greater sense of self-esteem, you’ll also have the motivation to practice self-care more often, and change your habits into healthier ones that can boost your mood, fight fatigue, and make each day a bit better than before. 

Are you interested in learning more about EMDR Therapy and how it can help with depression? Feel free to contact us or email for information.