Depression robs us of strength, depriving us of the ability to act, so we cannot cope with it. How to get off the ground?
Bad mood, inability to experience joy, pessimism and only one desire – not to move anywhere and do nothing. Depression makes us that way. Taking away our strength, it becomes stronger. But what if there are “lifebuoys” hidden in this very state that can help us?
Accept your condition
The first step in dealing with depression can be the very acceptance of the fact that you are in this state. A team of psychologists led by Amanda Shellcross from the University of Denver (USA) interviewed 50 women who at the time of the study were going through serious life tests.
Respondents were identified the level of depressive syndrome, stress and the degree of acceptance of their condition. A series of tests, which took place at intervals of several months, gave an interesting result. The higher the level of recognition of the depressive state among the respondents, the weaker the depression itself became over time.
The apathy inherent in this state draws us into inaction, envelops us with a desire to get away from the problem, and thereby unties the hands of depression. Not succumbing to this feeling, not letting everything take its course, realizing the existence of a problem, we are already moving against the depressive scenario.
Analyze it
Being depressed, we fixate on a problem or endlessly, with manic persistence, scroll through the same situation in our heads. Conversely, people who are prone to constant “introspection” are much more likely to become depressed. In essence, the analytical process, “self-digging” instead of constructive solutions leads us to self-destruction.
This type of thinking is called rumination. Yale University professor (USA) Susan Nolen-Hoeksema described it as constant and passive reflection on negative emotions, focusing on symptoms of depression and anxiety.
The thoughts that overwhelm a person in this state center around questions like “When will I finally get out of all this?” and ideas about inability to concentrate, feeling unwell. Accordingly, the result of such reflections is an even deeper immersion in depression, and not an exit from it.
In depression, it is important for us to understand ourselves and the situation, understand what is happening, and literally pull ourselves out with the power of thought.
A different opinion is shared by Paul Andrews and Anderson Thomson, who in 2009 put forward the “analytic rumination” hypothesis. Scientists believe that depression benefits our ability to analyze. And rumination itself is given to a person in order to comprehend his situation and find a way out of it.
The assumption that during depression, analytical abilities wake up in us with special force, of course, can cause quite justified doubts. Turning to our own experience, we most likely will not remember such a pattern. But this should not immediately devalue the possibility as such. After all, if the hypothesis is correct, then a depressed person has a life-saving medicine with him.
In favor of the idea of ”analytic rumination” is also an experiment in which healthy people and those who were depressed were offered to find the best candidate for a certain position. Depressed people searched longer, more thoroughly, looked at more options, chose the more suitable one, and, accordingly, received more encouragement.
Self-flagellation or pity will leave us in place, the search for the cause will open before us a difficult path of struggle.
But a heated discussion about the legitimacy of such an interpretation does not subside. For example, Sonya Lubomirsky, a well-known positive psychologist and author of The how of happiness, does not see any bright sides in rumination as such. And he considers the process of “problem solving” and self-reflection to be a way out of depression.
But the nature of both concepts is the same – it is reflection, analysis, reflection. In depression, it is important for us to understand ourselves and the situation, understand what is happening, and literally pull ourselves out with the power of thought. It is necessary to analyze the situation. What should be our internal questions?
Right question
The thoughts that we address ourselves can be divided into two categories. The first is thoughts that are painful, sad, fixing us on the problem. “Why is this happening to me?”, “Why me?”, “What did I do to deserve all this?”, “Why can’t I overcome the problem?”, “Why do I have problems, but others don’t?”. These questions focus on the obstacles in front of us, make us look at the shortcomings and make the depression only worse.
For a constructive solution, the question itself must be constructive. You need to analyze your personality and think about why the depression began. Reflect on the specific events that led to this state, reflect on your feelings and sensations at this moment.
Many studies show that the questions of the second group are more effective in the treatment of depression in the long term. They help to weigh the situation, think it over carefully, find the reasons, and in the long run, a solution.
Not “What am I doing wrong?” but “What made me feel bad?”. Self-flagellation or pity will leave us in place, the search for the cause will open before us a difficult path of struggle. But this will already be a movement out of the viscous state of depression, an attempt to overcome it.