Conquering Depression Seems Inevitable. Any positive advice?

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This topic has 4 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 5 months ago by Kas.

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April 13, 2016 at 6:35 pm #101766

Virginia
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Hello Folks,

I’m 24, female, and have been battling with existential depression for most of my life, and I cannot seem to mentally cope with it. I have tried medication, meditation, group therapy, one-on-one sessions numerous times, exercise, etc. While these have been tremendously helpful, I cannot seem to shake the depression away no matter what I do. My mentality is pretty low. I’m only content with myself for a few days, and then I succumb to depression, relapse after relapse — it is mentally exhausting. Terrible negative thought patterns have steeped through my mind. Does anyone have wealthy advice on how to conquer these negative parasitic thoughts? I sometimes get very depressed over the state of our world, the lack of social justice, the lack of critical thinking, the lack of caring for others, the lack of compassion, etc. I almost feel like I’m another species on this planet. I’ve read that self-affirmation mindfulness does wonders, so perhaps this will be a guiding lesson to start.

Best Wishes,
Garbo

April 13, 2016 at 7:13 pm #101767

Anonymous
Guest

Dear Garbo:

I have a few questions for you and and if you would like to answer I will follow with my best input for you:

1. What is “existential depression” for you (first line)?

2. The one-to-one therapy sessions you tried, how did it help you? Was it CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)?

3. What is the nature of your “negative parasitic thoughts”?

4. Do you believe your childhood was troubled enough to bring about your depression? How was it like?

anita

April 13, 2016 at 8:11 pm #101771

Ian
Participant

Hello

I have a sense of how you feel, but as with all depression it is individual so no one can really know your pain.

I have been battling my demons for about 15 years and like yourself nothing has been able to break the cycle.

For me the day usually starts OK but as time passes I get worse and worse.

My general feeling is that I need a much better support system. Some one to keep me going when I start to falter.

I wish you success in your battle

April 13, 2016 at 11:00 pm #101790

Anoniem
Participant

Hi there,
I walked a similar path. Also with medications, and gurus, therapists, I even tried hypnotherapy (I must say, that helped a little, don’t know why I stopped) What works for me at the moment is to catch myself out when I feel the downward spiral coming. You always have a choice: get bitter or get better. Depression is in my family and I see the signs in my daughter as well. I have done a lot of reading on the subject, because I want to get better, I don’t want to be like my mother! So when I see my daughter is spiralling down into that big dark whole, I stop her, and bring her back to the moment. For example I will say: “Why are you feeling sad?” she will reply:”because of something teacher said at school” then I will say:” is teacher here now? In this room?” and she will say: “No” then me: ” so teacher only has power to upset you, in your head, and it is YOUR head, so why give her power, if she probably long forgotten the incident?” This works wonders, because as soon as we are all back in the moment, we realise our power over our thoughts. And the claws of depression seems to loose it’s grip. It is a very empowered feeling. It is harder thought to do it with myself, so, to bring myself back to the moment, I start writing downs things that I am TRUELY thankful for or I listen to sounds around me, I try to feel the wind and smell the air, all to get me back to NOW. As soon as I can get my thoughts out of the PAST and out of the FUTURE, and back to now, I gain control again. That is why you get adrenaline junkies, you can not feel depressed while doing a bungee jump! You are 100% in that moment. I hope that helps a little.

April 15, 2016 at 2:04 am #101922

Kas
Participant

Hi Garbo,

I’m really sorry you’re going through this. I’ve recently come off medication and have been trying to deal with it through exercise, healthy eating, meditation etc. It doesn’t come naturally to me as I’m very cynical and my brain never stops analyzing and thinking. It can be exhausting. I have noticed that since I’ve slacked off a bit the last few weeks with meditation and exercise I have been feeling way more low than before.

Hang in there, keep trying everything you are, keep your mind busy (exercise usually helps me with this only because I’m in too much pain to think!) and (although I just joined) feel free to get in touch if you need to talk.

Hope everything works out for you!
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