Anxiety, Depression, and Living a Values-Based Life

Anxiety and depression are among the most common mental health concerns, affecting people across all stages of life. While they are often spoken about as clinical conditions with specific symptoms, they are also deeply human experiences - frequently arising in response to stress, loss, uncertainty, or feeling disconnected from what matters most.

Alongside evidence-based treatments, one therapeutic approach that can be particularly supportive is values-based living. Rather than focusing solely on symptom reduction, this approach helps individuals reconnect with meaning, purpose, and direction, even while anxiety or depression is present.

Understanding Anxiety and Depression

Anxiety is often characterised by persistent worry, fear, or a sense of threat. It can show up as racing thoughts, physical tension, avoidance, or a constant feeling of being on edge. Depression, on the other hand, is commonly associated with low mood, loss of interest or pleasure, fatigue, hopelessness, and a sense of disconnection from oneself or others.

Although different in presentation, anxiety and depression often coexist. Both can narrow a person’s world, pulling attention toward danger, failure, or inadequacy, and away from activities, relationships, and values that once felt meaningful.

What Is a Values-Based Life?

Values are the qualities and principles that matter most to us - such as connection, honesty, creativity, compassion, growth, or responsibility. They are not goals to be achieved, but directions we choose to move toward over time.

Living a values-based life does not mean feeling good all the time. Instead, it involves making choices that align with what matters, even when uncomfortable thoughts or emotions are present. This perspective is central to several evidence-based therapies and offers an alternative to the idea that life must feel calm or positive before it can be meaningful.

How Anxiety and Depression Pull Us Away From Values

Anxiety and depression often encourage avoidance. Anxiety may push a person to withdraw from situations that feel uncertain or uncomfortable, while depression can drain motivation and make even small steps feel overwhelming. Over time, this avoidance can shrink life and reinforce feelings of emptiness, fear, or stuckness.

A values-based approach gently shifts the focus from “How do I get rid of these feelings?” to “How do I want to live, even while these feelings are here?” This shift can be both grounding and empowering.

How Values-Based Living Can Support Mental Health

Values-based living supports anxiety and depression in several key ways:

• Restoring meaning and direction: Values provide a compass during times when motivation or hope feels low.

  
  

• Reducing struggle with internal experiences: Rather than battling thoughts or emotions,

  individuals learn to make room for them while staying engaged in life.

  
  

• Encouraging gentle, purposeful action: Small, values-aligned steps can help rebuild confidence and momentum.

  
  

• Strengthening resilience: Living in alignment with values can foster a sense of integrity and self-trust, even during difficult periods.

  
  

Importantly, this approach does not deny the reality of distress. It acknowledges that pain is part of being human, while also recognising that a meaningful life is still possible.

The Role of Counselling

Counselling provides a supportive space to explore anxiety, depression, and values together. Therapeutic work may involve clarifying what truly matters, noticing patterns of avoidance or self-criticism, and supporting behaviour change that feels realistic and compassionate.

Rather than pushing for immediate symptom relief, values-based counselling focuses on helping individuals live more fully and authentically, with symptoms often softening as a result of increased engagement and self-compassion.

Supporting individuals experiencing anxiety and depression through values-based approaches is an important area of my therapeutic work with individuals. I offer a thoughtful, collaborative space to explore what matters most to you and how to move toward it, even during periods of distress.

If anxiety or depression is shaping your life in ways that feel limiting, counselling can help you reconnect with meaning, direction, and choice, one step at a time. Reach out to me for an initial obligation-free 15-minute phone call or via email enquries@elysiabullen.com.au to get the conversation started today.

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