Can you really fight depression? To answer this question, I believe we need to understand what depression is. The brain is made up of billions of nerve cells called neurons. These neurons send and receive messages from the rest of your body, using brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. These brain chemicals, in varying amounts, are responsible for our emotional state. Depression happens when these chemical messages aren’t delivered correctly between brain cells, disrupting communication. You can think of this as bad cell phone reception. When you are in an area that has weak coverage, your reception is filled with static. Mountains and valleys and distance from a cell tower all interfere with your reception. You end up with static service and dropped calls. You brain works the same way. Anger, sadness, worry, and pain work as inhibitors that do not allow those neurons to transmit. For some, it is a chemical imbalance that will restrain proper brain function. For most, it is a collection of thoughts that we entertain over an over in or mind.
Unfortunately, it does not stop there. We turn on the TV and radio and listen to people around us filled with anger and sadness. The strange thing is that we actually want to hear all of this! Have you ever noticed when something destructive or negative comes on TV we are reaching for the remote to turn it up? When we are at work, we open out ears to make sure we hear someone’s misfortune. Why do we do this? It does not seem to make sense that we are so interested in all this negativity. I have a theory on this behavior. We walk through life with a varying amount pain, worry, and anxiety on our shoulders. We feel like if we hear the trials and tribulations of others, it will give us comfort to know that we are not the only ones feeling pain. For a short time, it works. We do get a sense of relieve that someone has it worse than we do. Unfortunately, that feeling go’s away. We have now added extra weight to our shoulders and we feel worse than we did before. Like a drug, we search for that high, that brief moment where we feel good. We try to conceal our problems with other people’s problems. We start to consciously or unconsciously think about what we have heard.
I remember years ago I was watching the news. They had a story about a 6 year old little girl that had been abducted a month earlier. They found her badly bruised body in a ditch along the road. They continued to inform us on the details of how the little girl was physically and sexually abused by the abductor. I remember my first thought was a sigh of relieve that it was not any of my children. As time went on, my relieve turned to sadness then to anger. As the day went on, my anger grew as my co-workers and I talked about it. Feelings of hate and despair filled my mind. Even after the conversations were done, it continued to ruin my day. So the question is, how could I have stopped that? The better question to ask is how could I have stopped this horrible tragedy? The answer is, you couldn’t have stopped it! There is nothing you can do about the news that you hear. I have decided to stop listening to the news. People are quick to say things like. “How do you stay informed?” My answer is simply this… I do just fine. I walk away from negative people. I will listen to people’s problems, but I am aware of my feelings and I do not allow myself to become effected by the negativity
My next question to you is… “What do we do to stop being depressed?” Do we just control our thoughts? Of course not, that is impossible. We do not have the ability to control our thoughts. If you don’t believe me, sit in a quiet room, with your eyes open, and try not to think for one minute. You can’t do it. If anything, you will start to think about not thinking. Thought happens as automatically as your heart beating and your lungs breathing. The key is to be aware of your thoughts. They teach this in Yoga. When you are meditating, you try to clear your mind. Thoughts pop in and out of your mind, but you do not allow them to anger you. You just become aware of the thought and gently allow the thought to leave your mind.
To be aware of your thoughts, you need to know what to be aware of. This is where reading and listening to people, mentors if you will, help you to understand your thoughts and get a better understanding of why you do what you do. People like Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohn, Norman Vincent Peale, and Tony Robbins, to name a few. You may not agree with all of there ideas, but your job is to pull out the ideas that work for you.
My next suggestion is to combat depression with exercise and good nutrition. I know, you are depressed, exercising it the last thing you want to do. God has given you a temple to work with. It is up to you how you want to take care of this temple. As the saying goes, “Bad stuff in, Bad stuff out. Good stuff in, good stuff out”. Just how exercise reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety isn't fully understood. Some evidence suggests that exercise raises the levels of certain mood-enhancing neurotransmitters in the brain. Exercise may also boost feel-good endorphins, release muscle tension, help you sleep better, and reduce levels of the stress hormone Cortisol. It also increases body temperature, which may have calming effects. All of these changes in your mind and body can improve such symptoms as sadness, anxiety, irritability, stress, fatigue, anger, self-doubt and hopelessness. Exercising builds confidence with the sense of accomplishment. It also works as a distraction to take your mind of off the anxiety. Plus you are doing something positive to manage your depression. A couple of keys to think about before you start. Get a good understanding and awareness of exactly what the barriers you have to not exercising. Do NOT think of exercise as something that is being taken from you. Think of it as something that you are giving yourself. Set reasonable goals. Do not kill yourself. You should be able to carry on a conversation while you work out. You should, however, be working up a sweat. The most important thing to know is that you WILL have obstacles and setbacks. You only fail when you quit!
The next thing to do is change your attitude. I know change is hard. Most people spend there life in the blame game. They blame everyone else for the problems they have. I have no money. Blame the government. I have a bad marriage. Blame your spouse. My kids are on drugs. Blame society. True maturity is attained when you take responsibility for your own actions. When I first started changing my attitude, I had to force myself to be happy and positive in the morning. I didn’t believe an ounce of it, but I kept being positive. My only drive at the time was that it had to be better than how I was currently feeling. Somewhere down the line. My attitude started to change. I finally realized the key to changing my attitude. The key is to have a heart of gratitude. Did you catch that? I will say it again. The key is to have a heart of gratitude. When I became grateful for everything I have and lost the desire for the things that I don’t have, my attitude started to change.
There are several other great ways to dispel depression like deep breathing, Yoga, and getting the proper amount of sleep, but this is a blog and not a book. I will cover these in later blogs. I have said this before, be a student of life. If depression is your issue, study depression. If you are out of shape and tired, study health. If you are poor, study wealth. Success leaves clues. Pattern yourself around people that have succeeded in your issue. Misery loves company. Hang around miserable people and you will be miserable. One last thought that wraps up this conversation. If you try to fight depression, you will lose. The key to beating depression is to go after the cause and sources of depression.