Depression
“Pain insists on being attended to.”
~C.S. Lewis
| Symptoms of depression include: |
| Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. A bleak outlook—nothing will ever get better and there’s nothing you can do to improve your situation. |
| Loss of interest in daily activities. You don’t care anymore about former hobbies, pastimes, social activities, or sex. You’ve lost your ability to feel joy and pleasure. |
| Appetite or weight changes. Significant weight loss or weight gain—a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month. |
| Sleep changes. Either insomnia, especially waking in the early hours of the morning, or oversleeping. |
| Anger or irritability. Feeling agitated, restless, or even violent. Your tolerance level is low, your temper short, and everything and everyone gets on your nerves. |
| Loss of energy. Feeling fatigued, sluggish, and physically drained. Your whole body may feel heavy, and even small tasks are exhausting or take longer to complete. |
| Self-loathing. Strong feelings of worthlessness or guilt. You harshly criticize yourself for perceived faults and mistakes. |
| Reckless behavior. You engage in escapist behavior such as substance abuse, compulsive gambling, reckless driving, or dangerous sports. |
| Concentration problems. Trouble focusing, making decisions, or remembering things. |
| Unexplained aches and pains. An increase in physical complaints such as headaches, back pain, aching muscles, and stomach pain. |
Become aware of limiting core beliefs and their consequences.
Depression can be maintained by beliefs held and emotions denied.
Addictions, like drugs and alcohol, or the internet and porn give us temporary relief from the pain.
Addictions soothe and distract, when we cannot tolerate being in the moment.
There can be overlap with depression and grief. Stages of grief include denial/shock, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
Grief is nonlinear. We can loop back into anger or sadness, even after seemingly coming to terms with a loss.
Beliefs are learned. We learn language, form beliefs, then adopt negative, limiting beliefs out of our experiences, supporting depression and anxiety.
They're not always accurate, but they can "feel real".
"It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled." ~ Mark Twain
“If you hold back on the emotions--if you don't allow yourself to go all the way through them--you can never get to being detached, you're too busy being afraid. You're afraid of the pain, you're afraid of the grief. You're afraid of the vulnerability that loving entails. But by throwing yourself into these emotions, by allowing yourself to dive in, all the way, over your head even, you experience them fully and completely.” ~ Mitch Albom
