It is common to feel low in mood at times, but if you are feeling persistently low in mood, that is interfering with your life significantly  and goes on for more than a few weeks, this could be a sign you are experiencing a form of depression.

Depression can vary in severty for mild to severe and there are different types of depression, like:

• dysthymia
• seasonal affective disorder
• pre-natal and post-natal depression.

Common symptoms of depression including:

• persistent lack of enjoyment in usual activities
• tearful 
• irritable, agitated
• low mood, feeling down persistently
• low self-esteem and confidence
• suicidal feeling

You may also struggle with :

• concentration and increasing forgetful
• persistent fatigue, feeling burnt out.
• avoiding social events and seeing friends
• increasing insomnia or early morning wakening 

If you are unsure if you are feeling depressed you can fill in the screening form below and  make an appointment with one of our GP's.

There are several ways to manage depression and not one treatment is right. Sometimes several avenues need to be adopted and explored.

Some key things are: 

1: working out the causes/ triggers by conpleting out a mood diary, talking to someone's you trust or with a health professional like a GP, councellor or psychologist

2: focussing on self- care: eating well , sleeping , exercise, seeing close friends and family.

3: Undertaking treatments like self -help programme, talking therapies, mindfullness,  medication

Medical research has shown that regular exercise is a great way to elevate your mood to decrease stress . It does this by decreasing levels of  stress hormones such as cortisol while also increasing the body’s natural feel good chemicals such as endorphins, dopamine and serotonin. 

Healthy Active Minds is a physical activity project for adults aged 18 years and over with mild to moderate depression, stress, anxiety or low mood. It requires a referral from your medical practice or a mental health team. The Programme offers specialist support, tailoring of individualised health plans with options such as swimming , yoga, gym or walking.

Click here for more info 

Feeling Good App is a free,  excellent evidence based audio programme that help build essential skills to deal with mental stresses and strains. 

It can helps with improve sleep, anxiety with stress related problem. 

For more info please visit www.feelinggood.app  to see how it works. Or click here to download the info sheet 

username: lothianwidef1 

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If you are due a review appointment for your antidepressant medication, or if you have a seen a note that one is due on your latest prescription, please fill out the forms below- this can help our GP's to review your medication without you having to wait for an appointment. However, if you wish to discuss the matter in more depth, or are having issues with your medication then please call reception on 0131 552 7676 to arrange a more in-depth appointment.

Medication Review Form

Depression Screening Form

Anxiety Screening Form 

You can then email these in to us at: clinical.s70272@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk

Thrive- Self-help resources and information about local events, organisations and counselling agencies.

Mind is an excellent website promoting mental health and emotional wellbeing. It has extensive resources and information with a variety of mental health issues.

Mood Juice- Help for a range of emotional problems and guides for  anxiety, depression, self esteem, sleep and anger.

Woebot- A free App, Woebot is a 'chatbot' that is able to suggest a range of clinically approved resources.

Brothers in Arms- A charity specifically for Men, destigmatising talking about mental health.

Sleepio- A digital sleep improvement program. The 6-week CBT based course that provides you skills to overcome sleep issues. 

The excellent Community Mental Health Team  (CMHT) consists of Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Psychiatric Nurses and the New Thrive Team. Access to the service requires a GP initial assessment and referral. Waiting times a unfortunately quite long ( approx 6 months) depending on the service referred to.

The Thrive Team is a new group of local community mental health services that address a number of mental health issues in people over 18 years of age. The team comprises of:

• support workers
• mental health nurses
• occupational therapist
• social workers

They work together using practical and solution-focused support to help address the impact of mental health issues a person is experiencing to help improve their quality of life. 

Some of these services can be accessed directly by yourself online via their excellent and comprehensive website. iThrive | Home (ithriveedinburgh.org.uk) 

Breathing Space- 0800 83 85 87- Mon-Thur 6pm-2am, 24hrs at weekends. 

Samaritans- 0131 229 9999- 9am-10pm or 0845 790 9090 - 24/7. or email jo@samaritans.org.

Edinburgh Crisis Centre- 0808 801 0414 - 24/7 or text 07974 429 075 or email crisis@edinburghcrisiscentre.org.uk (overnight accomodation offered)

Papyrus Hopeline- 0800 068 41 41- for young people with suicidal thoughts.

Young Minds- Text 'YM' to 85258 - A messenger for young people expieriencing a mental health crisis.