Re: Six Simple Steps to Help Fight Depression

Originally Posted by
Feisty4me
I am just wondering about the "depression is a self-destructive effort to avoid feeling" part. Is that always true? I have been in such depression for 2-3 months now. It is because of the 'feelings' I am depressed, just want to stop feeling or at least these feelings of being totally alone, lost and useless to stop.
i've found my experience of depression to be very paradoxical. on the one hand i felt like i felt too much, i felt lonely, sad, hopeless, alone, etc etc. on the other hand, it was like i didn't feel anything. i couldn't feel any joy, or happiness. i also had feelings that i knew were there but that i stopped myself from feeling. feelings of grief and sadness and loss that i just did not want to feel, so i wouldn't let myself. in that sense i was numbed. i think this is what they refer to in this article when it mentions the effort to avoid feeling. you may have feelings you need to work through but that for some reason in your mind you don't want to have to go through, and you try to avoid that. instead, they manifest themselves in the form of depression which as you know is painful too.
i hope this makes sense and that i haven't lost you, if it's confusing i'll try to explain better.
~ our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising each time we fall - confucius
~ it is the journey, not the destination, that matters
~ keep hanging on, the sun will come shining through for you again
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