I don't consider depression as an illness. Contrary to its definition I believe that depression is just an adaptive mechanism which has served humans for thousands years.
We all get depressed from time to time. Some people recover faster than others. Some turn to alcohol, drugs, food or something else to cope with their bad feelings. But many are able to find hope and good spirits in a relatively short time: these are normally people who are adapt at listening to their intuition or their intuitive voice.
The fact is that feeling low sometimes is nature's way of telling us that something is wrong with our lives and we need to fix it.
Depression is similar to pain. Pain tells us that something is wrong with our body and it needs treatment. The same can be said about depression - it warns us that we need to change the way we live our life.
Generally in order to feel good, seven important factors must be present in our lives:
1. Good nutrition.
2. Fresh air.
3. Sunshine.
4. Physical activity.
5. Purposeful activity (goals or purpose in life).
6. Good relationships.
7. Good and regular sleep.
If any of these factors are missing, a person feels uncomfortable. If several of them are missing a person gets depressed and even goes into despair.
The fact is that most depressed people live on a bad diet, drink lots of alcohol, smoke, and stay indoors nearly all the time, they don't exercise and don't have any goals to strive for. Their relationships are poor or almost non-existent.
Why do people practice this self-destructive behavioural pattern? I think one of the most important reasons is that they stop listening to their intuitive voice or their spirit. They lose hope that they can be happy again, have love and feel pleasure. Their intuition shuts down.
Intuition is our gift from nature and its function is to keep us safe, healthy and happy. Our intuitive voice always guides us to what is best for us. This voice is gentle, subtle and non-intrusive. The problem is that it can be easily overrun by brain noises - most of which are loud, emotional and negative.
The brain is your chatterbox.The brain tells you how bad your life is, how insufficient you are and how bad you feel. The brain does not necessarily tell the truth but often gives us only a perception of the truth. Intuition always leads you onto a better direction in live and always tells the truth.
Of course severe loss and trauma can cause depression even in an otherwise healthy person. Even when all the seven factors are present, the loss of a loved one or a breakup usually result in profound feelings of depression. The same can happen with the loss of one's career, health, home, etc.
But if the person who is suffering the loss is able to connect to his/her intuition - the depression goes away much faster.
One of the worst things that can happen to a person is when they go to a mental health centre; mentions they are depressed and is then sent off to see a psychiatrist. Then they get a prescription for antidepressant and are told (falsely) that their depression is an illness like diabetes for example. Then they are told they must take pills the same way that a diabetic must take insulin and they lose touch even more with their intuition.
Depressed people take the prescribed drugs they are given, but remain unequipped to manage their lives. Their habits and lifestyle stay the same so the depression grows. The side effects of taking antidepressants can also cause severe problems like drug addictions, drowsiness, immobility, poor coordination etc.
The most important thing for a mental health professional is to assess a depressed person's lifestyle, habits, relationships, history, etc., to determine the source of their depressive feelings. From this assessment, a healing program should be developed and active support and assistance provided to the patient in the implementation of this program.
An explanation on how the spiritual side in human beings work must also be provided by a health professional. Without recognising and accepting the spirit it is nearly impossible for anyone to recover from depression permanently. Sure they can go into a kind of remission, but some little thing happens and they crash back to their depression.
The best antidepressant is your own spirit and the intuitive voice we all possess. Learning to use it will be much more beneficial in the long run that a handful of drugs.
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