depression - is time the greatest healer

Hello braveheart and welcome to this forum!

There is so much stuff on the internet - it's a challenge to sift the wheat from the chaff!

Your pattern of experience is a familiar one. You can learn a great deal about how this pattern operates and how you can break out of it in the Depression Learning Path. It takes about an hour to read properly, but is well worthwhile. When you've had a look, come back and post your response!

Kathleen

Hi Kathleen
Thankyou for your reply . I have viewed the learning path several times and found it to be an enormous help . I have no doubt this is the way to beat the depression cycle but for some reason I find it difficult to completely dismiss all negative thoughts . Compared to this time last year I am a lot better , my symtoms ( tiredness , low energy , low mood ,poor motivation and low sex drive ) are nowhere near as severe as they were but the depression seems to persist at a certain level which I am finding hard to completely eradicate . I find my good days are when I do not follow my train of thought but also find it difficult to stop these thoughts originating in the first place .

I sometimes feel ashamed and embarassed also when I think back to how poorly I was last year and feel as if I let my family down in some way . O f course I know this is not true but again I guess this is a depressive thinking style . I also fear a relapse which again I do not think would be uncommon for anyone suffering from depression .

As I have stated previously I have improved greatly but I feel as though I can not negotiate the last hurdle , does this sound familiar or is everyones depression totally unique .

Should I go to my doctor again , am I paased the stage of trying another anti depressant due to my improvement , will patience , time and following the learning eventually defeat it .

Again I would be extremely grateful for any advice .

Thankyou
Braveheart

Hi braveheart

It sounds like you have been really working at this, and you are already seeing the fruits of your labours.

I've noticed that many people feel ashamed of their depression, and feel as if they have "let people down". It's as if people feel that there is some kind of a commandment which says "thou shalt not be depressed, and if thou art depressed, thou shalt shut up about it".

I think you are right in identifying this as a depressive thinking style! A method for modifying depressive thinking styles is to write down the negative thoughts and then write down the same thought, but in the opposite style (thinking styles are explained in the Learning Path).

So, if you are having the thought "I'll always be depressed" you can also write down the thought "I am depressed NOW, but I can expect to get better". (I have more examples on my website if you need ideas on how to do this).

Getting rid of ALL negative thoughts is probably an unrealistic target (black and white thinking! ) - allow yourself to have some - we all do!

Be patient with yourself - it does take time. However, you can get some good ideas on the forum - there are some really helpful people here. A good idea is to pose a specific question and invite people to offer suggestions or discussion.

Good luck!

Kathleen

Hi Kathleen
Thanks again for the advice . I know that it will take time and that I have to be patient but I cannot help feeling , for how long ?
As I have said previously the improvement I have made in the last year has been great but I still wonder - will this ever completely go away- . Is this common ? Does everyone with depression fear that it will never go away .

Thankyou
Braveheart

Hi braveheart, welcome back!

I think it is very common for people who are depressed to wonder if it will ever go away, or, even if they think it will go away, to wonder how long it will take.

Well, it will go away.

How long it will take is different for every single person, as this depends on a multitude of factors.

When I was depressed myself (yay! it's so long ago now! ) I held on to the promise of someone I trusted who reassured me that it WOULD go away and I would come out of it. It felt terribly long to me, and there were some really dark times, but I kept holding on. And it DID go away. And now I know how to keep it away.

I have problems, and feel sad and low, like any human being. But I don't get depressed, now that I know how not to!

Kathleen