Katrin Knecht, 56, has been working as an IT specialist for many years. From the outside, her life looks completely stable. She lives in the city with her family, is deeply passionate about her job, and loves tending to her garden. To balance out her desk job, Katrin pursues various creative hobbies. She describes herself as reliable, a bit of a perfectionist, and someone who never does things by halves. Yet, underneath the surface, pressure was steadily building up. “I didn’t realize just how bad things had gotten,” she shared.
The Slow Warning Signs and Physical Toll of Depression
Professionally, Katrin carried a massive amount of responsibility for years. Highly complex projects, strict regulatory requirements, and constant deadlines defined her everyday life. Her workload kept piling up, but Katrin wanted to achieve everything expected of her. Eventually, she began suffering from headaches and back pain, which she brushed off as the result of long hours sitting at a computer. Katrin managed to ignore the pain with painkillers, until sleep disturbances and eventually tinnitus set in. At night, her mind would race with anxious thoughts about the upcoming workday.
In the highly complex IT projects, Katrin noticed that her memory and ability to focus were slipping:
“Eventually, I couldn't remember anything, I couldn't concentrate anymore, and then the crying spells started.”
Katrin shared that she poured every ounce of her energy into her workday. After work, she would collapse from exhaustion and fall asleep. Her husband also noticed her irritability and mood swings. Even though all the red flags had been flashing for a long time, Katrin refused to see them. She simply could not accept that she was not okay.
Sick Leave as a Turning Point Toward Self-Care
Katrin was desperate and sought advice from her friends. However, simply talking about her situation moved her to tears. She resorted to leaving text messages for her loved ones, avoiding phone calls entirely. Even conversations with close friends and relatives became impossible. Deeply concerned by her withdrawal, those around her urged her to see her doctor—which Katrin ultimately did.
It was her sick leave that finally brought a turning point and a sense of relief. When Katrin’s doctor spoke of depression, she could hardly believe it. Accepting the diagnosis would take her a long time. One piece of advice from her doctor stuck with Katrin in particular: she shouldn't pour her energy into household chores or new projects, but instead deliberately take time for herself, rest, and complete at most one task per day. Self-care had now become her top priority.
Digital Help and the Way Back to Herself
Katrin was fortunate enough to quickly secure an option for rehabilitation. In addition, she was given access to deprexis, a digital therapy program that perfectly bridged the waiting period for standard therapy. Katrin shared that she originally had a hard time explaining how she was even feeling; she first needed to find a way to connect with her own emotions. The mood tracker feature in deprexis was especially helpful to her during this process.
“If someone asked me how I was doing, I could only ever say, ‘It varies.’ That was the most accurate answer. I completely lacked a sense of myself and had no real awareness of how good or bad I was actually feeling.”
Through her very conscientious and regular use of deprexis, Katrin received further tips that helped her manage her depression in daily life. Whether it was going for daily walks, questioning her own thoughts, practicing good sleep hygiene, or doing various relaxation exercises—the content was invaluable to her. This was especially true for the modules that helped her understand her emotions and needs. She realized that her emotions are often linked to a specific underlying need waiting to be fulfilled. This breakthrough allowed Katrin to develop a much more compassionate and gentle relationship with herself.
What Katrin Does Differently Today and How Movement Helped Her Out of Depression
Looking back, Katrin shares:
“I wish I had known sooner what depression actually is and how it manifests. And I wish I’d had more reminders of just how vital self-care is.”
She urges others not to ignore those first warning signs, whether they are back pain or headaches, but to uncover their root causes instead. Exercise and movement, in particular, can have a powerful preventive effect. Today, Katrin deliberately schedules walks, yoga, or breaks into her calendar—complete with reminders on her phone. She now knows that self-care isn’t an optional luxury, but a necessity to maintain enough energy for all the demands of her daily life. Katrin is firmly convinced that we need to talk much more openly about depression and mental health.
“Mental health should have greater acceptance and presence in society. It isn't a physical ailment that people can see. That makes it all the more important to prioritize mental health and give it the exact same value as physical health.”
Her return to work on a phased reintegration plan is starting soon. Katrin senses that she needs to look after herself differently now, and that while this won't be an easy path, it is a necessary one. Thanks to her time off, the support from deprexis, her rehab stay, and a outpatient psychotherapy program starting shortly, she now has the tools she needs to resume her daily routine—without losing sight of herself all over again.
“If you ignore everything around you for too long, you crash pretty hard. Accepting help early on is vital.”
