Depression Support Group
Depression is a real and debilitating condition that is often misunderstood by family and friends. Its meaning can range from a prolonged period of sadness to an actual mental illness with specific symptoms. Find and share experiences with others who are going through the same struggles.
Does anyone KNOW any of the reasons why we are depressed?
neurotransmitters that aren't working properly - personally my brain chemicals just can't seem to get the formula right... big fancy terms for happy juice and calm oil and essence of loving life? you know, all that dopamine serotonin stuff, right? I think it'd be nice if we could just drink it and absorb it in that way lol...
anxiety - worrying about stuff, thinking too much, allowing fear to overtake your thoughts, over-analyzing life and all the what-ifs and possibilities.... and self-criticism, low self-esteem, not being capable of seeing your own good qualities - this is your brain telling you total lies! also from personal experience...
hormones --- not sure how this works really but I imagine it also manipulates neurotransmitters, chemicals in our brains and our bodies, and can make you feel physically awful and in pain too...
Those are the options the way I've learned them.
There are other reasons for becoming depressed that actually kind of have depression as a symptom or side-effect of something else going on with your body or your life, for example, a diagnosis of a terminal illness can really rob you of enjoying life... losing a spouse after 60 loving years of a committed marriage - and realizing your friends and classmates are getting old, ill, or dying too - these can be in the situational / stress category too but also important to recognize, even with things like chronic pain - another personal experience to speak from, I have a really bad back and it aches nearly nonstop.
I don't know why I can't stop typing... well, nah, I guess I know that too.. I'm lonely and had a bad day. I hope you're feeling better than I am and I hope you get lots of answers to your question.
Allowing fear to take over our thoughts. Our thoughts come first..then we feel. We tend to get in the cycle of thought, fear,thought, fear....... When we get control of our thoughts our feelings change....we stop self criticizing .....we stop beating our self esteem down.. Just like training a dog not to pee in the house..we catch our thoughts red handed and stop the harm being done in its tracks.After we feel the shit, its too late.Just like a dog..our self critic learns that thats bad behavior. Our critic is really trying to help us, but in a weird disfunctional way. When ya realize your thoughts are acting up remember...BAD DOG
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Kook, O M G - did you happen to see my journal or a different post about how frustrating my dog is right now??!! lol soooo perfect for me to read, you don't even know.
Yes. You're right about catching the lies in the act, red-handed.... It has been a huge challenge for me until recently, I've learned to recognize the 'voice' of those thoughts and the type of words that voice uses the most. I catch things like "You're never good at ___" or "You are always _____" --- never and always?? The only times those words have any real meaning is when they're defining themselves - nothing is ever always and never, especially when it comes to being a human!
I do try to yell BAD DOG and say "nuh uh uh -- that's not true at all! You don't ALWAYS do this or that, but you did recently, maybe you do frequently, but there are many examples of when you do NOT do this or that..."
Your reply has come at a really good time for me to take notice and remember this aspect, and to recognize my power to take back control. Thank you. :)