?Oh No, Here I Go Again?: Why Unhappiness Won?t Let Go

[Daniel E.]

This is the first chapter from The Mindful Way through Depression:

?Oh No, Here I Go Again?: Why Unhappiness Won?t Let Go

 

[Daniel E.]

Something from that chapter:

Automatic Thoughts of People Currently Depressed

1. I feel like I’m up against the world.
2. I’m no good.
3. Why can’t I ever succeed?
4. No one understands me.
5. I’ve let people down.
6. I don’t think I can go on.
7. I wish I were a better person.
8. I’m so weak.
9. My life’s not going the way I want it to.
10. I’m so disappointed in myself.
11. Nothing feels good anymore.
12. I can’t stand this anymore.
13. I can’t get started.
14. What’s wrong with me?
15. I wish I were somewhere else.
16. I can’t get things together.
17. I hate myself.
18. I’m worthless.
19. I wish I could just disappear.
20. What’s the matter with me?
21. I’m a loser.
22. My life is a mess.
23. I’m a failure.
24. I’ll never make it.
25. I feel so helpless.
26. Something has to change.
27. There must be something wrong with me.
28. My future is bleak.
29. It’s just not worth it.
30. I can’t finish anything.

“Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire” copyright 1980 by Philip C. Kendall and Steven D. Hollon. Reprinted by permission.

 

[Daniel E.]

Another excerpt from the book:

When we stop trying to force pleasant feelings, they are freer to emerge on their own.
When we stop trying to resist unpleasant feelings, we may find that they drift away by themselves.
When we try to stop making something happen, a whole world of fresh and unanticipated experiences become accessible to us. (pg. 109)

The Mindful Way through Depression

 

[HotthenCold]

Something from that chapter:

number 30 hit me like a ton of bricks. As I was reading the list I was pondering why I can never concentrate on something for long before I have an overwhelming desire to stop doing what I'm doing. Like I can't get engaged in anything I do....as if I'm just made to sit around pondering my misery...so I was pondering "why can't I get right in to things and focus only on them? Why am I always looking for "the next thing" to take me away from this current "thing"....then I read 30, nice bit of synchronicity. Forcing my self to finish this list resulted in a greater feeling of understanding, I'm happy to say.