Depressed, Sensitive, and Alone…What Therapy Would Work Best?

Reader’s Question

I’m 34 and I am somebody with a lot of immaturity. I am very anxious, depressed, unstable, and quickly wounded by the remarks of people. I am very sensitive, I avoid people, and I am very alone. I began a psychoanalysis 4 years ago and I included/understood why but that does not change my problem. I feel always so impotent. Which kind of therapy do you advise me?

Our Clinical Psychologist’s Reply

Sensitivity to the remarks of others, as well as social avoidance, are directly related to our interpretation of people, their comments, and our social situations. You may benefit from a cognitive-behavioral approach to your concerns as that therapy approach deals with the interpretations that keep us unhappy and socially isolated.

Years of anxiety, stress and depression may have also produced a clinical depression which would complicate your situation. Review articles on depression on this website and take some of the depression screening instruments. If you are clinically depressed, the addition of an antidepressant medication would be helpful. In research, we obtain the best results with a combination of antidepressant medications and psychotherapy.