DÉPRESSION – The Brain of Presence

DEPRESSION

DEPRESSION AND PSYCHOLOGICAL EXHAUSTION

When the load becomes too heavy to carry alone

Do you sometimes feel like you're exhausted inside, as if your brain no longer has enough energy to keep "keeping going"?

Some people describe periods when everything suddenly becomes much more difficult: thinking, working, responding to others, making decisions, getting out of bed, or simply coping with daily life. These moments are often accompanied by rumination, crying spells, profound emotional exhaustion, a need for withdrawal—or, conversely, a feeling of continuing to function on the surface while collapsing internally.

Some people then say:

"I can't take it anymore." "I feel like my whole system is shutting down."

What depression does to the brain

Depression doesn't always manifest as sadness. For some, it takes the form of profound exhaustion, a loss of motivation, and difficulty mustering the energy needed to cope with daily life. Others describe a feeling of inner emptiness, a slowing down, or a gradual detachment from what previously gave meaning to their lives.

Modern neuroscience now allows us to better understand these states. The human brain constantly regulates its energy expenditure based on the resources it perceives as available. When emotional stressors become too great, when difficulties accumulate, or when the nervous system feels overwhelmed, it can gradually reduce certain expenditures.

Momentum wanes. Motivation becomes harder to muster. Thoughts slow down. Activities that once brought pleasure lose their appeal. Withdrawal sometimes becomes the only available solution for a nervous system trying to conserve its remaining resources.

From this perspective, some depressive states can be understood not as a failure of the brain, but as an attempt to adapt to a burden that has become too great.

Depression as an experience of absence of presence

An often overlooked dimension of depression concerns the role of others in regulating our psychological balance.

We tend to think of the human brain as a system designed to function on its own. Yet, much research suggests that our brain constantly uses the presence of others as a resource. Trusting relationships, emotional support, and the feeling of being understood or accompanied reduce some of the workload the nervous system has to handle.

When these resources become insufficient — as a result of loss, isolation, prolonged relational tensions, or sometimes a profound feeling of loneliness despite the presence of others — the brain must take on alone what it expected to share.

Energy costs then increase considerably.

Many depressive episodes occur in this context. Not because the person lacks willpower or motivation, but because their nervous system has been trying to cope for a long time with resources that have become insufficient.

From this perspective, depression can sometimes be understood as the experience of an absence of presence: the absence of a sufficiently stable support to allow the brain to release some of the burden it carries.

This is also why the healing process often involves a gradual restoration of presence — presence to oneself, presence of others, presence of relationships secure enough for the nervous system to gradually regain confidence in its own resources.

How I work

Psychotherapy for depression and mental exhaustion aims to understand what the nervous system is trying to manage through these states and to allow it to gradually regain more stability, energy and inner security.

My approach integrates EMDR, trauma-focused therapies, ACT therapy, schema therapy, emotional regulation, and current knowledge from neuroscience. Depending on your situation, the work may focus on reprocessing difficult experiences, identifying specific relational patterns, developing new regulatory skills, or gradually rebuilding a sense of inner security.

The therapeutic relationship itself often constitutes an important part of the process. It offers the experience of a stable, regular, and sufficiently secure presence to allow the nervous system to gradually emerge from certain states of survival or exhaustion.

The pace is always yours. The work is built gradually, respecting your history, your resources, and what you are ready to go through.

In-person or via teleconsultation: Sessions can take place in person in Marseille or via secure teleconsultation.

CONTACT FORM & APPOINTMENT BOOKING

EMDR EMDR – Understanding how reprocessing difficult memories can promote psychological healing.

Trauma Better understanding the consequences of simple or complex psychological trauma.

BORDERLINEt Understanding the brain gradually learns whether it can rely on the presence of others.

ANXIETY Borderline Personality Disorder – Understanding the difficulties of emotional and relational regulation.

DEPRESSION

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