Love Letters From A Therapist's Journal: Dear Depressed You
- insitepsychotherap
- Nov 29, 2025
- 6 min read
Hello! I hope this week finds you well!
Welcome back to Love Letters From A Therapist's Journal. Each week, there will be a different love letter-written just for you.
To read the previous love letters, you can visit the blog anytime.
This week's love letter is Dear Depressed You. This is the version of you that feels "down in the dumps" for no apparent reason...or for many good ones.
Important Note
*The information in this blog is not meant to replace medical advice. If you feel suicidal, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. It is a 24-hour hotline available for anyone in emotional distress. You can call or text 988. Or chat at 988lifeline.org. If you feel so depressed you are unable to eat, sleep or care for yourself, please notify your medical professional-they can help you or can refer you to someone who can, like a therapist and/or a psychiatrist. *
Dear Depressed You,
Sometimes, you don't even know where it comes from. You just feel really,really sad. Tearful. Heavy. Exhausted.
Some days you can't even get out of the bed.
You don't want to eat. Or you're eating your feelings.
You can't sleep, or you can't seem to get enough sleep.
Or you want to isolate-you just don't want to be around other people. It's too stimulating.
You just want to be alone with your sad thoughts. You even think of more reasons to be sad. The more you think about it, you have so much to be sad about. Discouraged about. Depressed about.
Reflection
Depression is something a lot of people experience at some point in their lives. It can be extremely disabling, causing major life disturbance and interruption. So it is worth our assessment of it, so we can figure out a plan and skills to work through depression.
Sometimes you may need a professional's help.
Sometimes you may not.
But you will always need to have the skills to manage your depression.
So let's start by asking a few questions, to get to the root of it.
Why Are You Depressed?
As we deconstruct, or break down your depression, ask yourself these questions:
Is it in response to a life occurrence, or event (past or present)?
Go back in your mind-what happened right before you got depressed?
What words are you speaking to yourself? What are you telling yourself?
Do those words make your depression worse or better?
Is there an activity that you participate in right before you get depressed?
When Do You Get Depressed?
Look For Patterns:
Does it happen more during certain seasons? More during the winter?
Is it the anniversary date of a significant event? Good or Bad?
Does it happen at the same time of the year?
Is it a certain day of the week?
A certain time of the day?
Are you able to determine a pattern when you look more closely?
How Are You Depressed?
Everyone's Depression Is Different.
Ask Yourself:
What does my depression look like?
How does my depression affect me?
Am I sleeping more/less?
Eating more/less?
Am I angry/tearful?
Am I caring for my hygiene as normal?
Do I feel lethargic, more tired?
Do I feel anxious also?
Am I able to perform my regular duties at home? At work?
What do my friends or family notice?
Applications
Now that we have deconstructed our depression, let's discover some tools to help to manage it.
Get Active!
Sometimes when we are depressed, the very last thing we feel like doing is the first thing we need to be doing.
Depression has a way of sapping our energy and motivation. In the treatment of depression, sometimes people are advised to get up and to get moving.
This is not to say you have to get up and run a marathon. You don't have to even leave the house. It means get up, stretch your body. Do 10 jumping jacks. Do 10 toe touches. Just get up and move. To get the oxygen flowing. Just a little bit will make you feel better.
Get Social!
When we get depressed, we sometimes choose not to interact.
You just want to sit and sulk. You don't want the responsibility of being around other people. Of pretending to being okay when you're not. Of putting forth the effort to put on clothes and leave home. Or just putting forth effort to get up and get dressed at all.
But humans are social creatures. We have to interact. So call your friends and loved ones on the phone. Have a conversation. Go out to lunch. Let the wind blow on you. Let the sun shine on you. I know, you don't want to. But what we want to do and what we need to do are sometimes different.
Get Out Your Head! (And Get to Writing)
When we are depressed (and to be honest, sometimes when we are not), we have a million thoughts circulating in our minds. Some good. Some bad. Our thoughts can be our best friends-or they can be our worst enemies. A way to really bring our thoughts to life is to write them down.
Journaling is one of the first tools I recommend to my clients. It is an excellent way to see what words we really tell ourselves. It creates a written chronicle of:
A. How you were feeling.
B. What you were doing.
C. How you got through it.
So if you feel depressed again, you have something to refer to, a roadmap, if you will, to navigate through your depression. To give you some insight of what your depression looks like. Instead of starting from scratch every time.
So to give you a kick start, I will give you a few journaling prompts to help start your journaling. You can start out with one or two. Just complete the sentences and write freely from there, or just start out with just the answers to the prompts.
Journaling Prompts
When I get depressed, I tell myself.........
When I get depressed, the very last thing I want to do is.......
The first thing I neglect when I get depressed.....
Now that I know what depression is, I first noticed it when.......
Noticing your emotions is powerful, but caring for yourself means tending to all parts of you. My Self-Care System offers a guided approach to nurturing all parts of your self.
Finishing The Letter
Dear Depressed You,
I know it feels like you are the only one going through this. But what you are going through is not something you have to go through alone.
Talk to others about it.
Talk to a therapist.
Talk to someone.
You cannot stay stuck like this. You have some of the skills to help you work through this. You have to turn inward. But you cannot stay there. You don't have to go through this alone.
Please reach out.
Write down your feelings.
Honor your body.
Be gracious with yourself.
Depression is not a choice, so don't beat yourself up about it.
You are going to get through this. I promise. You have done it before. And you will do it again. I am here to help you. And I know you will get to the other side of this. Please take care of yourself.
With Love,
From Your Therapist's Journal
You Are Not Alone!
If this letter resonated with you, sign up to receive the Depression Management Tool-to help you understand and manage your depression.
Also, if you’d like weekly encouragement, updates and new self-care tools, join my e-mail list. No spam, just support for your journey toward your very best self!
What will you do today to manage your depression?
Leave a comment below and let me know.
Inspirational Quote:
"The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of the world but those who fight and win battles that others do not know anything about."
-Jonathan Harnisch
About the Author
Lauren Cartwright, MS, LCPC, is a licensed therapist with over 20 years of experience helping professional women (and all women) achieve balance through self-care. Lauren is a Christian, a mother, and a breast cancer survivor who integrates faith, humor, and honesty into her work. She wants to help readers reconnect with themselves so they can discover what truly works for them and practice self-care in a way that fits their lives.
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