Before I write my personal thoughts on the question “Will I ever eliminate depression from my life” let me just say that my views and opinions as expressed in this article DO NOT necessarily state or reflect those of CBHC. And or the medical community that are in fact based on my own experience and first hand knowledge.
I am not a true believer in the cure. I cringe when I see people selling products that “cure depression” or people who claim if you do their “program,” you will be cured from depression. It’s not that I think they are selling snake oil or have spiked the Kool-aid. It’s just I know depression…it is a beast! It can lay dormant then come up like a tsunami and wash away years of progress in a matter of days. No over the counter pill, supplement or book is going to help you when it hits you like a Mack truck! I’m not going to sugar coat it, it will be a battle for many of us for all our lives with periods of balance and light and other times where we just have to march through the muck and mire…but, we PUSH ON! Courageously, it can be done! There are many of us that are living proof.
We may not be able to eliminate depression 100% but it can be treated and contained. We can have mastery over depression! There will be times of relapse, that is fine, we will just get up -dust ourselves off and PUSH ON!
This is what happened to me a few months ago. In therapy today, I got to reflect on this point. Five years ago, I hit a deep depression that hospitalized me… I turned to cutting and branding (burning) for dealing with my the emotional stresses. Back in 2008, I did not have the coping tools I have today from my self-advocacy and continuing education on my diagnosis.
I told my CBHC therapist that in 2008 I was coming off a nine month long deep depression, I was just barely functioning – I was also 100% off meds for 2 years. It was a very toxic time but I did not have to tools to eliminate depression from my life. This time around it was 14 days of what I would call a non-functioning period of mostly being lost in a “deep depression.” What made this time different is that I was able to use productive coping tools that helped chip away at the depression…allowing me to function and move through it.
Tools To USE To Chip Away at Depression
- * Accept – acknowledge – validate it: If we are in denial, we could get lost in the darkness of depression. When I was able to acknowledge I was depressed, I was able to work my wellness toolbox.
- * Move: walk – exercise – studies show it can help reduce the symptoms up to 50%.
- * Sunshine: get outside – the sun helps and just being outdoors/nature can lift the mood.
- * Talk to a friend: call a friend – human contact helps me – but this is a slippery slope, since when I’m depressed the last thing I want to do is see “people.”
- * Make an appointment to see your doctor – If you take meds, you may need an adjustment, or talking in therapy can be helpful just to ground you.
- * Tap into what you love – if you love and DO it.
- * Art therapy – draw how you feel.
- * Write a poem or song and express your feelings.
- * PUSH On