The Depression Session of Tranquility Online explains what depression is and how to manage it. This session describes how depression affects you, how Tranquility will help, and enables you to set goals for the program.
The How Depression Affects Us section describes the impact that depression has on a person’s mind, body, and behaviours, with details about how these effects can spiral into increasingly severe symptoms, with a detailed example.
The Exploring Your Depression section explores your own depression by having you specify the details of what triggers it, how often it happens, and the ways in which your thinking, feelings, and behaviours change when you are depressed.
The Styles of Depression section explains four common types of depression and how they are different, allowing you to find the type that is most relevant for you. This will help you to get the most out of Tranquillity’s Depression Session. The four types are major depression, mild depression, depression with chronic pain, and combined anxiety-depression. The Styles of Depression section will share the stories of four people who experience these different types of depression in a relatable way that can help you to identify your own experience of depression.
The quizzes throughout the Depression Session evaluate your understanding of the material, as well as your personal experience with depression.
The What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy section explains the nature of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), a treatment for depression that is based on the premise that a person’s thoughts affect their feelings and actions which, in turn, affect their thoughts. This amounts to a cycle that can perpetuate or worsen the symptoms of depression, and CBT can be used to break this cycle and help a person return to their normal functioning.
The Applying CBT section is optional and explains how targeting thoughts and behaviours can train the brain to interrupt their negative cycle and relieve the symptoms of depression.
The Goal Setting section explains why it is important to set goals and the different features that a goal should have in order to manage or relieve the symptoms of depression.
The Your Tranquility Task section describes some exercises for you to do on your own, including questions for you to consider to keep you on track. This work includes goals that you will set for yourself and your attitude towards them and the chances that you will need to make in order to reach them.