Are you experiencing functional freeze or depression…?
With World Mental Health Day coming up, it’s great that as a society we are talking more and more about mental health and how to support individuals experiencing mental health struggles. However, sometimes there is a shame associated with seeking support or receiving a diagnosis.
If you’ve been feeling low in mood for a while, you may be thinking that you are experiencing depression. However, there can be a misinterpretation of depression which takes an individual down a certain path of therapy and sometimes medication. In my own nervous system healing journey, I was surprised to find that sometimes functional freeze can have similar characteristics to depression which led me to wonder how many people are being misdiagnosed.
Although your motivation, ability to make decisions and day-to-day functioning may be challenging you, you may not need a therapist or medication to get to the other side of your challenge. Maybe what you need is to understand or receive support to discover whether what you are experiencing is in fact functional freeze.
Below are 10 ways in which functional freeze can show up in your life and look similar to depression.
1. You lack motivation
This usually occurs when you find it difficult to start tasks, complete tasks or even pursue activities that you would normally find enjoyable.
2. You find it hard to make decisions or procrastinate
When experiencing functional freeze or depression, you may find it difficult to make decisions. And not just the big decisions in life, but also day-to-day decisions like what to have for dinner, or what to watch on TV. There is a difference here between functional freeze and depression.
In functional freeze there is often an underlying fear of failure or feelings of overwhelm. In depression it is often because you have little or no interest or energy in the decision that needs to be made.
3. You avoid doing the thing
Individuals may find themselves avoiding day-to-day tasks, life responsibilities, communicating with others or anything that they feel is too challenging or overwhelming.
4. You feel unable to show up to life
We all have routines that enable us to show up to our lives. Our self-care and nourishment. Our jobs. Our life admin. Our family. But when we are experiencing functional freeze or depression, showing up to life can become challenging and we may find ourselves neglecting ourselves and our life.
5. Your inner critic gets loud
Doubting ourselves and our abilities, fearing failure or lacking self-esteem can have us in a cycle of negative self-talk and criticism. We may talk down on ourselves more than normal which can lead to some of the other behaviours mentioned in this post.
6. You want to be alone
Depression can cause an individual to withdraw from those around them, whether it is family, friends or colleagues. This can be due to low energy or disinterest. Similarly with functional freeze, individuals may feel challenged in socialising especially when they are feeling a lack of confidence.
7. Your relationships start to feel strained
Those closest to us will feel the brunt of our behaviours and moods, even when we choose to withdraw. When we no longer have the energy to socialise, communicate or share space with others, our relationships can be impacted.
8. You feel this way for a prolonged period
Functional freeze is usually a temporary state and often caused by a specific life circumstance or event which makes the individual feel overwhelmed. However, if it is not addressed and is endured for a long period of time, or becomes chronic, it can look very similar to depression, especially when we consider how we are functioning in our day-to-day.
You can see from the examples given that functional freeze and depression can look very similar. It can be difficult to separate the two and someone who is experiencing either of these may think that they should immediately seek professional help.
One way of being able to discern for yourself whether you are experiencing functional freeze rather than depression is to ask yourself whether what you are experiencing is due to a specific event or task in your life, or whether this is something you have been enduring for a prolonged period of time.
I am not a mental health professional and can only speak from my own lived experiences of both mental health challenges and healing my nervous system. I have experienced clinical depression for most of my life, and during a recent life challenge I thought I was back in that dark place again, ready to do battle with my mental health again.
But being on a healing journey with my nervous system, I was able to discern that what I was experiencing this time around was in fact functional freeze rather than depression. Although I still felt challenged with my mental health, I was able to move through my challenge with more ease and take preventative action to stop it from getting worse.
If you or someone you know is experiencing some of the ways in which functional freeze and depression can show up, please seek support from a mental health professional so that you can meet the challenge with the best support and the most effective way for you.
Much love,
Harmesch x