Do People Really Get Over Depression?
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 at
8:45 pm
I was diagnosed as depressed over a decade ago. I felt that way long before being diagnosed. I’ve done so many things to get past it. I’ve done years of therapy. I’ve done several medications in several different doses. I’ve tried focusing on the positive. I’ve tried acting as if. I’ve tried positive self talk. I am moving up and establishing myself. I’ve tried hypnosis, affirmations, subliminal recordings, but I’ve never felt not depressed I don’t think, even for a minute.
Tagged with: affirmations • decade • hypnosis • many things • medications • overcoming depression • positive self talk • subliminal recordings
Filed under: Designing Subliminal Messages
You really have to keep trying approaches until you find one that is right for you. I have had severe depression at points in my life, even as a child. It isn’t fun and it doesn’t get better without work, unfortunately.
I even ended up in the hospital which opened my eyes to the fact that I had a choice to make. I could continue to do what wasn’t working for me, or I could come out and get serious about getting better. I was on medicines that I would have rather not taken for quite awhile after coming out of there, but they helped me get through the depression and put into place better habits and self-care techniques.
Talk therapy for me was useless. Cognitive behavioral therapy was the only thing that was effective for me. What really solidified it all for me was talking a college coarse. It was a psychology course devoted to the Psychology of Excellence. It focused on goal setting and used sports a lot as an example but the concepts were incredible and very applicable to my own struggles with depression. We didn’t have a textbook. Instead we read from a book by the author Orlick called "In Pursuit of Excellence" and also actual research papers by Dweck and others. The goal setting techniques I learned in that class were amazingly helpful.
My depression was the type that made it impossible to get out of bed, but by just setting the goal of getting up in the morning and catching my bus (that being my focus and entire goal of the day) made me feel better and helped me create good habits.
I’m not saying the book will change your life or that this is the right approach for you, but I am trying to say there is hope. You need to find the path for you. I truly think you can overcome this obstacle in life. Don’t focus on past "failures". You can only live for today and look toward the future. Don’t stop exploring the many options out there for you and the many support systems you can find in your community.
So that would be my advice. Just keep exploring treatment options and really try to find something that works for you. I have my moments still with feeling down and some days feel like a lot of effort but I can say that the world doesn’t ever seem as dark as it did when I was in the midst of depression and now when it does seem to be taking that turn for that path, I feel like I have much better coping mechanisms and something to turn to, which is basically one of the goals of treatment.
Good luck!