Depression and Moving Beyond
What is Depression & What Techniques Can Help Overcome It? A Practical Approach to Understanding & Moving Beyond...
Perhaps depression should actually be renamed to "deep-impression". This is in reference to a feeling of sadness often accompanied by a loss of interest in life, hopelessness, and decreased energy that becomes deeply rooted in the subconscious mind because of almost continuously negative thought patterns. Distressing thoughts create negative feelings that can affect one's ability to perform the usual tasks and activities of daily life. When someone is in this 'whirlpool' there is an inability to see the 'silver lining' surrounding every cloud and a feeling of being lost and leads one to wonder who am I, and where do I fit in? This then creates self judgment.
As a famous self help author once said:
Leave the mirror and change your face. Leave the world alone and change your conceptions of yourself - Neville Goddard
Depression is very different from a temporary case of "the blues" which may be triggered by an unhappy event or stressful situation. Depression affects the mind and also the function of the organs of the body, but this doesn't mean "it's all in your head". Depression is a true medical illness linked to changes in the biochemistry of the brain's cells. It is within the chemistry of living organisms and life's processes. Generally speaking whatever the heart feels the mind will see.
Depression is not a weakness of character. Being depressed does not mean that a person is inadequate. It means the person has a medical illness that is just as real as diabetes ulcers or any other physical affliction. Like other medical disorders, clinical depression should not be ignored or dismissed. A clinically depressed person cannot simply "snap out of it" any more than a person with an ulcer could simply will it away. In recent years public awareness and acceptance of depression as a legitimate illness and not something that can just be 'shoved into the corner' is a true step forward.
We are all born thinking. Depending on the patterns we have created on a deeper level, this is a big factor on how we improve. This is because whatever the mind thinks the body will follow and vice versa. During depression both the mind and the physical body must be considered and steps involving improving the general health of both need to come into play.
Depression is highly treatable in the vast majority of cases. Up to 90% of depressed people respond positively to various forms of treatment. Sometimes psychotherapy or counseling is all that is needed to overcome depression.
Hypnosis is also a very effective and widely used therapy for treating depression. People who are depressed are usually suffering from problems in the conscious mind, which are often manifested from issues (patterns) deeply planted in the subconscious. For the most part depression is an illness with origins in the conscious mind of the individual driven by subconscious patterns that have been created.
Hypnosis helps in this respect because it is used to minimize or reframe negative subconscious patterns. Hypnosis initiates direct contact with the subconscious mind to address the deeply rooted origins of depression which are buried deep within the autonomous decision making parts of our brains.
Sometimes, the first session with a hypnotist will work well when treating depression. Other times, a second or even a third session is required to find the best (most effective, most easily tolerated) treatment for the individual patient. Remember this: Most people want instant results and very few will get this. Once you make the choice to improve your quality of life you must keep the faith that you are getting better everyday, because results will vary from person to person.
Perhaps nowhere is the connection between mind, body, wellness, and illness more striking than in depression. It is clear that emotions such as sadness, elation, and anxiousness, are governed by chemical reactions in the brain. That is only the beginning. Scientists have recently begun to unravel the complex interplay between factors that contribute to depression. Illness, heredity, psychological traits, and social environment all play a role.
Types of Depression
Major Depression
This is also known as melancholia or unipolar depression, and can last up to a year if not treated. A person experiencing an episode of major depression will experience some physical problems, such as headaches, other aches and pains, or digestive upset, for example, in addition to emotional difficulties.
Bipolar Disorder
Also known as manic depression, involves mood swings that soar to mania, or unusual elation, and then plummet to depression. Once called manic depressive illness, bipolar disorder causes dramatic mood swings range from elated highs to deflated lows. A person with severe bipolar disorder may also see or hear things that are not there or experience paranoia (an incorrect feeling that they are in danger from others). This type of activity interestingly enough is an unnatural response by the brains sensory perception systems wherein what the person sees or hears is actually projected from the brain before the eyes or ears actually receive any signal.
Dysthymia
This is a chronic low-grade depression that often begins in childhood or adolescence and may last for many years in adulthood if not treated. It is a less severe form of clinical depression, but at times it can be almost as disabling as major depression.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
This is a form of depression thought to be triggered by a decrease in exposure to sunlight. In the Northern Hemisphere, the condition usually occurs in late fall and winter, when daylight hours are short, and it is more common in geographical areas that have four clearly defined seasons.
Some Facts about Depression
1. Depression affects nearly 19 million people in the US.
2. It is the most common mental illness, yet fewer than half of depressed people seek help.
3. Depression affects one in five people at some point in their life.
4. It is the leading cause of suicide.
5. It afflicts twice as many women as men.
6. Depression affects people in all age groups.
7. Depression has affected many famous people throughout history, including Abraham Lincoln, Ernest Hemingway, Peter Tchaikovsky, Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, Mary Shelley, and Mike Wallace.
8. The number of people who experience depression has increased with every generation since World War II.
Facts About Bipolar Disorder
1. Bipolar disorder occurs in about one in 10 people with clinical depression.
2. It usually begins before the age of 30.
3. It strikes men and women equally.
4. It is twice as likely as major depression to run in families.
5. Bipolar disorder triggers more frequent and severe episodes of illness than does major depression.
6. The most disabling part of bipolar disorder are the often prolonged depressive episodes.
Practical Techniques to Help Depression
Exercise and Diet
In treating depression it is very beneficial to participate in regular exercise to help increase your energy levels and to assist the body to naturally produce dopamine and endorphins which makes you feel good. Ensuring a healthy diet and eating good healthy foods is also important to ensure that you receive all the necessary vitamins, minerals and nutrition to make your body and strong and also to provide your brain with the sustenance that it needs to operate normally and effectively.
Self Talk & Questioning
It is important be aware of the way you question your self and your situation on a personal level. Once you change the way you question and speak to yourself within your mind you can make significant positive advancements.
For example, when you get up of a morning ask yourself:
What mood do I want to be in today? Do I want to be happy or do I want be sad?
Always try to answer these questions inside of yourself with a positive response: Of course I am going to have a happy and prosperous day today.
Then, when you go to sleep of a night time ask yourself:
What was great about today? What did I learn that empowers me today?
Find the good things that happened to you that day and bring them to the forefront of your thoughts. This will reinforce the positive and help disable the negative. it an also be advantageous to ask yourself these questions by replaying your day like it was a movie. Sit back, think about what you did today as if it were a movie and then critique what you did or didn't like about that movie. This is an especially effective analytical tool if you are more of a visual personality type.
By asking yourself the right questions and concentrating on giving the right answers by always only focusing on the positive elements, you will make great headway to changing your negative patterns that have such an overwhelming effect on causing persistent depression.
Spoken and Non-Verbal Affirmations
Another useful tool is using personal affirmations. These are simply positive statements that you can say out loud or within your mind. These should always be short, sharp and to the point.
Some examples of effective affirmations are:
I am happy. I can. I am fun. I am exciting. I am in control. I am.
Making Mistakes - We All Make Them
I have always believed in the philosophy of "We are the creators of ourselves" This is true because it is ourselves that have limitations on what we do and who we are. If you have high expectations then you have no limits. Making mistakes is what we all do. It is what we do with the mistakes is what really matters at the end of the day. This will either make your life go around in circles or keep you growing and moving forward in a positive direction.
Decisions, Outcomes and Patterns
If you have a 'want' you will only ever get a 'desire' and no 'completion'. If you have a 'choice' you have to make a 'decision' so you then have an 'outcome' Always make sure you choose the right decision so you get the best outcomes. Choose negative and you will become negative. Do this enough times and you will create a pattern. Patterns are hard to break and are significant in terms of why we become depressed in the first place.
So next time you have a bad day or if something extremely negative happens to you remember this. If you suddenly become negative about the world and make negative decisions, it may only last a day, maybe a few days, maybe even a week or a few weeks. Often before you know it becomes a pattern that you have created and making positive decisions becomes harder and harder. This is the trick not to get caught up in. Limit your negativity and always consciously be aware about making negative decisions - they can consume you eventually.
Defining Failure
It is important to establish a positive attitude to how you view failure and the expectation of yourself in relation to this. I believe that there is no such thing as failure - only that something remains unaccomplished because there is not enough time for it to be finished. In other words, you planned to do something but simply could not finish because the clock beat you to it. Remember that you can always keep plugging away at a goal or something that you wish to achieve for as long as it takes to accomplish. Adopting this belief can be useful in release negative self image and motions that drive depression.
How You Look At Yourself
If you see in everything that you do as a test, then you always allow yourself a chance to fail. Change the concept of a test to an opportunity and you will eliminate the chance of failure because there is no such thing as a failed opportunity if you at least give it a go.
When we look at ourselves in the mirror often the first thing we do is judge ourselves. Become conscious of this and make the decision to change this initial perception. Instead, when you look in a mirror, thank yourself and appreciate yourself and then give yourself a positive direction for the day and do it(be firm).
Planning Fun Things To Do
Another important technique that can help is to always be actively planning fun things to do in the future. By consciously making the decision to plan something exciting like going camping, seeing a show, having friends over for a party or anything else that you enjoy doing, it can help make you enjoy the moment more. Having something to look forward to is vital for giving people who are seriously depressed a reason to wake up, get out of bed and have a good day. If you have nothing to look forward to you are more likely to get caught up in having a bad day. Often being in depression means that looking ahead is harder to do because you are having troubles even knowing what you are going to do for that day. If you can break this and plan ahead you will always have something fun in the road ahead.
Get Out & About and Mingle
If you are depressed this really is easier said then done. Being in depression usually means that the person chooses to become secluded and extremely introverted due to the nature of the illness. If you cn stand up and consciously make the effort and decision to get out of the house, visit some friends, even call someone on the phone, you will have made a big step towards overcoming the illness and choosing a better path. Always try your best to make an active choice to do this as hard as it may understandably be.
Oppose Negativity
One way to help change your negative patterns is do the opposite of any negative thought or feeling that you may have. As silly as it may sound, every time you have a negative thought or feeling try jumping up like you have just won the lottery and scream out the opposite of whatever negative thought you just had. By creating a high emotional reaction and also the physical aspect of jumping in the air this helps reinforce the positive over the negative because you begin to have a stronger association towards choosing to think positively. Strange but very true…
Conclusion
These little tools will help you begin to break your patterns and create new ones that can certainly help make living with depression easier and in many cases actually help overcome it. Always try to remember to choose a solution not destruction.
I remember once I worked with a lady who had been crying for 2 years straight, for 21 hours a day. I introduced her to the same techniques that I have mentioned plus some hypnosis during 3 phone calls that I made to her. She did what I asked and by the third phone call, she was laughing for the first time in 2 years. Some of her friends and people who knew her contacted me and said it was nothing short of a miracle.
A miracle is something that happens for no particular reason and a solution is something that you actively try to achieve through proper planning, thought and then action. The greater the problem then usually the greater the solution that needs to be created. Depression can be a big problem but it is possible to create a solution. I hope that this may shed some light if you suffer from depression.
If you or someone you know suffers from depression, we have a number of different hypnotherapy and other self help recorded products that can help.
NB: All of the above mentioned techniques are designed to assist with depression but you should always remain on any medication that has been prescribed to you by doctor or physician for depression.
If you suffer from Bi Polar Disorder, Schizophrenia, Multiple Personality Disorder or any other serious mental illness (this does not include depression) you should ask your doctor for permission to undertake hypnosis or hypnotherapy first. This includes all self hypnosis CDs and MP3 on this site and any other hypnosis recordings in general.
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