We all feel depressed at times but for some of us, depression can completely wipe out any hope of living a good life. Some people never recover from depression and this is a travesty but it doesn't have to be this way.
In our 'fix it fast' society depression is seen as something that must be 'cured instantly' and that usually means the involvement of anti-depressant medication. When you go to the doctor they ask a series of questions that will determine whether or not you're depressed and then before you know it you are given a prescription which purports to help remove the depression and get you back to 'normal living'. Then, it's assumed that you'll take the medication for a few months and the depression will disappear. But we all know that it doesn't really work like that. You don't deal with the reasons why you were depressed in the first place and when you stop the 'happy pills' very often the depression returns.
OK, so what am I talking about when I say that depression can be a good thing? Well here goes...
Depression is a sign...a sign that all is not well with you. But it's a good sign because it's bringing you to a halt and offering you the opportunity to take a look at what's not working. Depression isn't an imbalance of brain chemicals; depression is a suppression of emotions and the most potent emotion that needs to be tackled is anger.
Now, that doesn't mean to say you need to become a raging bull, no it means that the way you respond to life is to swallow your frustrations and this is causing you to suppress hope and aliveness with the frustration and anger. Depression is like living with a dark cloud pressing down on you and when you suppress anger, you suppress everything else as well. It takes on its own life and becomes so big so that, no matter how hard you flail you arms, you just can't see any light through the darkness.
Through my own journey many people have spoken to me about their depression, and their recovery. The one thing that comes to light is that their recovery began when they began to understand that they had buried resentments and took measures to grab them by the balls and drag them to the surface. It doesn't come easy but then if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. No, it's a hard road - the road less travelled - but it's the road to get back home.
Some of us needed extra help to get there and I'm one of them. Trying to untangle the inner workings of my heart on my own was just not possible. I need to speak about it to others who understood depression and how it works. And I needed their reassurance that I wasn't mad, just depressed and through their guidance, I was able to find my lightness again. I'm ultimately grateful to those people I found along the way who helped me to find that right path.
So, instead of thinking that all is lost, how about looking at your depression as a godsend? I do, every day. If I hadn't been depressed I wouldn't have gone down the recovery road and I would be stuck in a hum drum life. See it as a turning point, a signal for change, the beginning of a new life full of possibilities you never knew were there. If you asked me: what should I do right now? I would say to surrender - stop trying to fight the depression because it's like trying to claw your way out of quicksand, you just go down even further. Instead, just accept you're depressed, take yourself to bed with a soothing drink and tell the world to go to hell. The acceptance you offer yourself will bring new hope and a starting point for complete recovery.
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