Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Tackling Depression - My Theory

Depression or as Freu called it "everyday misery" - 'A condition of general emotional dejection and withdrawal; sadness greater and more prolonged than that warranted by any objective reason.'

A definition any depressed person, or person that has suffered from depression will be able to relate to.

I'd like to raise something in this article that i've spent a lot of time in the past talking to friends about. It's something i feel a lot of depressed people don't always consider enough.

A large part of experiencing depression is how much time we spend with our own thoughts, pondering on events and outcomes that may or may not have happened.

When in the process of doing this, we tend to go over the same sequence again and again. Whilst doing so, every time we return to the beginning and begin the process again, we make the situation bigger and so on it goes.
Think - go back to the beginning - think again - and so our problem gets bigger and bigger until we're unable to cope with our own feelings.

What if we all tried to cut this process off? If we were able to say to ourselves 'right, im not going to go over this situation yet again' what would happen?

My theory is, that actually we would find it much more easier to handle our feelings of depression because they wouldn't get out of hand with all the invested time we spent on them.

I'd as many people as possible to try this out, is it realistic? Did it help at all?

3 comments:

Shellie73 said...

Never a truer statement! I figured that out when I was coming to terms with my depression. I suffer with clinical depression and boy is it challenging...

I figured out the pattern of going over and over stuff in my mind and realised it was doing me more harm than good. I then started on breaking the chain and what a result!
No word of a lie, figuring out this was a Godsend and I've never looked back. I will always suffer with depression but knowing tool, helps me going further in life...

Top advice and those that haven't tried it - PLEASE TRY IT AS I SHOULD BY RIGHTS BE DEAD BY NOW BUT I'M NOT!!!!!! And it was knowing this pattern and breaking it, that has saved me.

Shellie Wallace

Astrogirl426 said...

There's a method that was developed to help people cope with the symptoms of depression. It's not meant to help you resolve the underlying issues, but rather just to help handle the symptoms. It's called Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, or DBT. I learned it when I spent some time in a psych hospital earlier this year; one of the tools they teach is something called "dropping the thought". Basically, people who are depressed tend to perseverate (ruminate) on certain thoughts. This rumination then fuels negative feelings - feelings of hopelessness, self-hate, and isolation. By "dropping the thought", you break that cycle of repetitive thinking.

There are several ways that DBT teaches you to drop the thought. Some involve distraction, such as listening to music, or feeling the sun on your skin; others involve engaging in activities that one finds enjoyable, such as spending time with family or going to church.

Anyone interested in learning more about DBT can find information on the web by Googling DBT or dialectical behavior therapy. Hope this helps!

Olga/Maddie said...

I think this is very realistic.

Unfortunately, I have yet to figure out how to both stop worrying excessively and to brood and brood over a problem.

But I'm working my way towards trying to both figure this out and then doing something about it. And that's the most important thing.

God bless and take care. :).
Olga/Maddie