Overcoming Depression

Help and tips for getting over depression

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Start your Journey to Recovery

Serious about conquering depression? So glad you are because a better life does await you. But… getting there involves hard work, but well worth all the effort. Here I’ll share all the information you’ll need to set you on the road to recovery. Sound too good to be true? Well, all I can say is that the tips and techniques I’ll share with you on this website, worked for me and that’s why I want to share it with you. You might feel overwhelmed and that too is understandable. Faulty thinking is the root cause of depression, anxiety, anger and even perfectionism. It took many years for your thinking to develop into what it is today, so… depression recovery will take a while, but the main factor is determination, especially a determination not to give up. 

Don’t feel overwhelmed!

depression recoveryI promise you there is light at the end of the tunnel, rather than the headlights of an oncoming train! Just the fact that you are reading this shows that you are serious about conquering depression. It really is a debilitating place to exist, so well done, let me walk with you on your journey to recovery.

Many people blame their depression on life events, or their upbringing, or their spouse. Does that sound familiar? The problem here is that you become a victim, depending on others for your happiness. Yes, bad things do happen to good people, but I’m sure you don’t want to live the miserable life of a victim. BE A SURVIVOR!

One step at a time

depression recoveryIt’s a huge topic, so whenever I start to feel overwhelmed I just remind myself of “how do you eat an elephant?’ To which I reply ‘one bite at a time!’

Depression Recovery

Depression Symptoms

Have a look if you recognize yourself in these depression symptoms. You can evaluate the severity of your depression by filling in this Depression Inventory. Good idea to print yourself a copy so you can keep a regular check on how you are progressing. Please don’t hesitate to ask your doctor for medication – doing so is a sign of strength, not weakness. Don’t listen to friends who tell you not to take medication – these friends are usually quite ignorant about the medical aspects of depression. Depression isn’t just a psychological problem. It is also a physical illness that needs treatment. 

Chemical Imbalance

Many people blame their depression on having a chemical imbalance. Yes, that’s true… BUT usually not the only cause. Take the medication but also learn to change the way you think. Stressful thoughts lead to the chemical imbalance and so learning to change the way you think will help sort out the chemical imbalance.

 Suggested order of reading

1. Some questions and answers about depression

2. Understand how depression progresses into a physical illness. In this article  I work through the below diagram to give a better understanding of many aspects related to depression such as stress, medication and why it’s important to learn to change the way you think. Remember knowledge is power.

depression progression

 

3. Cognitive Distortions List

Please print out this list of faulty thinking, (pdf) of cognitive distortions. You can also view it here for a quick look, but a printed version is really essential.  I cannot emphasize how valuable this list will be to you in your recovery. Have a look at the list.  Can you see where your thinking is going wrong? Good. Even people who aren’t suffering from depression recognize themselves in this list. Recognizing yourself is great as it will indicate your areas of weakness in your thinking. The second page gives step by guidance for checking out where your thoughts could be going wrong, reevaluating your thoughts and replacing your thought with one better grounded in reality. Okay this might sound complicated. It is a big topic, but believe me, it will become clearer further along the road.

4. Mood Analysis When you reach  this point you’ll have a greater understanding of depression. Now you have to put what you have learnt into practice. You need to practice listening to what is going on inside your head – listen to the thoughts that are directing your behavior. Just think about it as like driving a car. when you were learning, you had to think about each action. However after years of practice your driving becomes automatic. The same with our thoughts. They become automatic and… Well read the article…!

5. More examples on mood analysis here. It’s REALLY important to come to grips with this.

6. More  Examples of faulty thinking … I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to come to be able to analyze and replace ones thoughts.

7. And finally here are some more coping skills for when you feel like giving up or procrastinating as is so often the case with depression.

I have several posts that relate to depression and the easiest way of finding these is to look at Categories and click on depression or whatever takes your fancy.

Book recommendations

My all time favorite book for overcoming depression is Feeling Good – A New Mood Therapy by David Burns. If I had to recommend only one book on depression, this would be it – it changed my life and could do the same for you. Follow my link to Amazon for this book as well as a selection of his other books.

David D. Burns - The New Mood Therapy

David D. Burns – The New Mood Therapy

For more of my book recommendations click here.

Cycle of Depression

overcoming depression

Stress, stress, stress!!

We don’t often think of the bigger psychological picture and the role of stress in the downward cycle of depression. Stress is the most important trigger for depression. Stress depletes the brain chemicals used for thinking and the negative thinking associated with depression is just telling you that the brain is ill. You need help, just as with any other physical illness.

It’s vital to watch our stress levels and learn how to deal with stress. It isn’t easy to learn to think differently, but it is possible and very well worth the effort.

Please have a look at my Free Course on Overcoming Depression in the top right sidebar. Also have a look at my in depth article on how depression is a physical illness as well as my article on Cognitive Therapy which has more on the necessity to change the way you think to overcome depression.

My best recommendation for the techniques that I share on this site is that they worked for me and changed my life.

Disappearance by Irene Emanuel

IRENE_Emanuel

Irene Emanuel

DISAPPEARANCE

Unbearable heaviness;
Inexplicable sadness;
A burden of non-explanation
that’s ripping my façade to shreds.
Weakness encircles my upper body;
A loss of strength
that reduces me
to tearful hopelessness;
A cowering scrap of indecision
that is beyond caring.
In lucid leaps of cognizance,
I am aware of sliding into despair.
I communicate my terror to GOD –
I discuss my emptiness;
the barren strangeness of sound
reverberating through the hallways
of my mind.
Sorrow slouches arrogantly,
spitting out slivers of sharp scorn
at my despondency;
at my un-voiced fears and inadequacies.
I live in devastated ignorance
of my dissemblance.
Would GOD understand my lapse
into nothingness?

BY: IRENE EMANUEL   24-01-2003

Thank you again Irene for sharing this poem.To read “The Darkness” by Irene Emanuel as well as more information about the poet, please  click here

The Darkness by Irene Emanuel

IRENE_Emanuel

Irene Emanuel

What blackness pulls me,
protesting that I prefer the light,
but still wrenches my soul
into it’s glacial madness.

What triumphant tentacle
tweaks my tiredness
into tedious paralysis.

What despicable emotion
delivers my self-respect
into oblivion.

What relentless ribbon
encircles my lungs and
rivets my breath
to my throat.

It is the dull depressive dankness
that deprives my brain
of it’s life-force
and I die by degrees.

BY: IRENE EMANUEL (03-09-2006)

The other evening I had the pleasure of meeting Irene and during our conversation I learnt that Irene is a well-known poet having won several distinguished awards.

“Poetry allows me to get my message across with rhythmic speed and clarity and is the written word that I like best. My passions are music, reading, movies and cats.
Poetry has brought me into contact with many special people and in the process I have learnt that poetry breaks down social barriers of class and language. I feel privileged to have a gift of such magnitude, one that I love to share with anyone who wants to listen.”

Irene’s poems have been published  locally and abroad and can be found in “World Anthology of Journeys”, “Unbreaking The Rainbow, Voices of Protest”, in issues of “A Hudson View” and “The Speech and drama Association of S.A.”

In 2006, a collection of her poems, “A Scorpion Sings” was published by Trayberry Press.
“Count Catula of Shadoland & friends”, a selection of poetry, was published by Osborne Porter Literary Services in March 2011.

If you would like to contact Irene you may do so through this website and I’ll pass on the message. And to Irene – Thank you so much for sharing your talent with us.

Slave Mentality – from ‘Kathie’ by Dora Taylor

I’ve just finished reading “Kathie”, by Dora Taylor. It’s a fascinating story of life in the 1950’s for the ‘colored’ people of South Africa. Taylor explores slave mentality and the dilemmas of racial identity in a country where superiority or inferiority lay in the degree of skin pigmentation. I found this book enthralling and definitely very worthwhile reading for anyone interested in knowing more about what life was like under apartheid.

kathie-novel-dora-taylor-paperback-cover-art

Clicking on the book image will take you to Amazon.

Slave Mentality

In the book “Kathie”, the author makes reference to ‘slave mentality‘. Nowadays many people are slaves on a psychological level. Think about it. What are you a slave to? What’s holding you back from a life unfettered by chains and enjoying a life of freedom?

slave mentality

Who is your master? Could it be alcohol, drug or sex addictions? What about the way you think? Low self-esteem, fear of what others might think, a victim mentality, depressed thinking? Any of these can keep a person in chains, preventing a life of freedom. Let’s not forget attitudes like resentment and a lack of forgiveness – these can also hold one in chains.

As you read this excellent extract from the book “Kathie” think about the things that keep you in chains.

‘Beware of slave mentality,’ said Ndwana. ‘It is a cunning sickness. We may  have it without knowing we have it.’

‘How may we diagnose it?’ 

‘That is a good question,’ answered Ndwana. ‘He who has the mind of a slave accepts the existing order of things as unchanging and unchangeable, because his master has told him it is so. He does not question it; still less does he try to change it. When he is kicked he cringes; he fawns on the hand that smites him. He begs for crumbs for himself, but not his brother; he slinks into a corner to lick his own wounds, but does not see the wounds of his brother; bullied by his master, he bullies those who are even more unfortunate than himself. Robbed of will and reason, he becomes stupid and hardened of feelings for others. He loses the very power to think of himself as a man.’

‘It is a grim picture,’

…..’Stupid lies masquerade as the truth. And you yourselves believe them….’ (Taylor 2008:333)

We act on whatever we believe to be the truth, even stupid lies that seem like the truth. The only way to break free is to see the lies for what they are and expose these lies to the light of truth.

John 8:32 “…Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

“Kathie” by Dora Taylor is available from Amazon.

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