Overcoming depression can be a difficult thing to do. It's a whole lot easier to talk about this topic than to actually do it while you're in a state of depression. Being depressed is something that everyone will go through at some point or points in their lifetime. It's definitely a serious problem and can even lead to disastrous consequences. In this article, let's look at the root cause of depression as well as what to do to help reduce it and hopefully control it and get rid of it.
To overcome depression, you first have to know where it comes from. Although many things can cause you to feel depressed such as a loss of a loved one, not having your dreams fulfilled, an end to a relationship, and a job loss, the way you feel is caused by one core thing which is your focus. To be more specific, it is caused by the meaning you give to any given situation.
I understand that this may sound too simplistic and if you are someone who is depressed a lot, please don't feel offended. Like I said before, we've all been depressed. Thinking that you are special in some way because you experience it more than anyone you know isn't going to help your situation. What you need to realize is that there is a cause and effect when it comes to how you feel. People who are depressed aren't depressed 24/7. There are moments of depression. Something triggers that emotion. The thing that triggers it is what you focus on.
Learning how to overcome depression can be a long process depending on your situation. I can say that all you have to do is to focus on positive things but if you are surrounded by nothing but things that make you depressed, it's going to be difficult. It will also depend on your beliefs as well. If you truly believe that your life is somehow cursed with bad luck or something, it's going to be hard to shake that feeling of depression off.
There are a couple of different levels of depression. Some people who are depressed really just want connection. They want to know that someone understands the pain that they are going through. They want to feel important in some way. Then there are those who just can't stand life. They want a way to escape from it.
Depression can be a serious thing and knowing how to overcome depression may require some professional help. I am assuming though that if you had the motivation to read this far down into my rambling, and that you even searched for this topic in the first place, you at least have a desire to want to know some ways of overcoming depression. If that is the case, let's continue.
As I mentioned earlier, much of how we feel, whether it's depression or happiness, is caused by our focus. If you continually focus on how life sucks and any other thing that causes you to feel sad, you're going to feel like crap. If, however, you spend most of your time focusing on how good life is and other positive aspects of life in general, you will feel good.
So what do you do if you can't seem to find anything to feel good about? What if all you see when you look around you is stuff that will make anyone depressed? What you can do is use your imagination. Create a positive world in your mind full of things for you to be happy about. This isn't about escaping your reality though. It's really no different than visualizing your dreams and goals as if they were already real.
The point in doing this isn't to just help you feel less depressed for a moment and then feel like crap again after you are done visualizing. The point of this is to give you reasons to feel happy and to realize that it is indeed your focus and the meaning you give to events and circumstances that will determine how you feel.
Some people can go through a break up and feel depressed for months. I went through this myself. It was not a fun time. The passage of time helped a lot but what got me out of it was when I started to focus on being free to find the person I was truly meant to be with. When I was depressed, I kept focusing on my loss. I kept focusing on how I may never be happy again. This caused me to look at everything else in my life with a darker shade of color. Thinking back, my memories of that period of my life look very gray to me.
Now that I think about it, it's almost embarrassing that I even had those thoughts. I have to admit though, feeling depressed helped me connect with a lot of people who tried to help me out. That feeling that you can get connection after you just lost your biggest connection can be a trap that will cause you to want to stay depressed just to hold onto those new connections.
In this example, I was able to get out of it by focusing on the good in my situation. I don't care what you are going through, you can always find something positive to focus on and if you are still reading this then I know you are tired of feeling depressed. Overcoming depression will take mental effort. Set goals for yourself. Give yourself reasons to be feel happy. Paint a brighter future in your mind. When you are depressed, the future can look very dark and gloomy. Change that.
You can change your focus by changing the questions you are asking in your mind. Instead of asking, "Why does life suck?" ask something like, "What can I do to get out of this rut?" A really good question to ask is, "What is good about this situation?" You see, the questions you ask will determine your focus. Whether you realize it or not, you're asking yourself questions all the time. "Should I get up? What should I wear? What to eat? It's a yellow light, should I go or brake?" Most of these questions are subconscious.
Try to notice what you are asking yourself right now. Are your questions more negative or positive? Overcoming depression can be done by asking more positive questions and eliminating negative questions. Really what you are doing is changing your focus but the way you change your focus is to change the questions you are asking yourself whether it's conscious or subconscious. If it helps, write down some questions on an index card that will help you focus on what is good in your life and read it every time you feel depressed. Change your focus, change your life.
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