The Rio Grande Cancer Foundation kicks off the year with a new classroom series, “Becoming Stress-Free in 2023.” Claudia Ornelas from Family Service of El Paso will offer the first class, Managing Anxiety & Depression Symptoms.

Depression is a mood disorder that causes persistent feelings of sadness, loss of interest and despair. It can have an impact on cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and physical functions. While sadness, negative thinking, and loneliness affect all of us at one point or another, the symptoms of clinical depression, or major depressive disorder, can be severe, unrelenting, and even frightening. Depression can make you feel like nothing will help, or that any relief will be temporary, and it can create a cycle of maladaptive thinking, feeling, and doing (or non-doing).

However, depression is treatable, and in addition to psychiatric treatment and therapy, there are steps you can take to cope with depression.

Claudia Ornelas, MA, LPC-S, from Family Service of El Paso will discuss coping skills such as relaxation techniques that may be useful in managing anxiety and depression symptoms. She will demonstrate how to practice the techniques during the presentation and participation is voluntary. Call 915-562-7660 for more information.