All posts by hopeservicefellowship

Belief, Depressed Anonymous, Depressed Anonymous Workbook, Ego Deflation, Focus, Hope, Negativity, People Pleasing

Always trying to “please others” diminished me!

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“I’d rather be imperfect and happy than always trying to be perfect.”  The THIRTEENTH WAY to leave the prison of depression.

The following two  excerpts quoted below  are from   Believing is seeing:15 ways to leave the prison of depression.(2015). Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.

 

”  One of the areas in my life where I strive to excel is in the area of trying to be perfect.  Somewhere in our early development as children we got the message that if we were perfect we could be more acceptable to others. I gradually began to believe the more I  tried to please other’s that this would bring me happiness. Instead all it brought me was a loss of myself.  The loss of self reduced me to a shallow self without direction  or meaning.” Page 63.

”   Eventually, my depression became a sort of a comfort as it kept me from having to risk an unpredictable life. In other words, this way of living took away all hope. This is what keeps many of us depressed. We hold onto the mistaken belief that since bad things happened to us in the past, bad things will continue to happen to us in  the future.” Page 64.

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SOURCE: Copyright (c) Believing is seeing: 15 ways to leave the prison of depression. (2015) Depressed Anonymous Publications Louisville.

VISIT THE STORE for more information on other publications offered to the depressed by Depressed Anonymous Publications.

12 Step Meeting, DA Literature, Depressed Anonymous, Isolation, The 12 Steps

To live is to participate

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“Our Depressed Anonymous program of recovery is one of hope and peace.  The more active I become in my efforts to think and act positive the more confident and free I become.” The TWELFTH WAY to leave the prion of depression. An excerpt from Believing is seeing: 15 ways to leave the prison of depression.(2015) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.

“It is recommended that if you want to be helped by our program of recovery it is best to go to at least six meetings before you make any long term commitment to whether or not the group is for you. Just  as it has taken time to get ourselves depressed, in some cases it may be a lifetime…There is a Swahili saying that states
“to live is to participate.” How true this is especially if you happen to be depressed. One of the things we want to do when depressed is hide and isolate ourselves. We don’t want anyone to bother us. We want to be left alone….You will  start feeling different about yourself the more meetings you attend. In time you will be taking the focus off yourself as you listen how others are showing improvement of mood and behavior and you will discover that they are much like yourself. You are not alone. You begin to hope again.”

Give yourself the opportunity to attend a meeting and hear how others, much like ourselves, are feeling better. Gradually, for those who keep coming back to the meetings, week after week, will begin the journey out of the prison of depression . Wouldn’t you like to try it?

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“I will focus daily on my stars and not my scars.”

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The ELEVENTH WAY to leave the prison of depression: An  excerpt from  Believing is seeing: 15 Ways to leave the prison of depression. Depressed Anonymous Publications. (2015) Louisville.

“I will make a daily inventory of all my positive strengths.  I tended to magnify the worst in everything in my life and make mountains out of molehills. I will focus on my stars and not my scars.”

One of the problems of being depressed is that every circumstance and situation is filled with potential hurt and disappointment.  The depressed person has a tendency to think in patterns of despair, hurt and disappointment. It appears to be a proven fact that the more a person keeps the fears and anxious thoughts to themselves, this can cause the mountain to  grow larger. But by sharing these fears and thoughts with others, either by writing them out, as in a daily journal, or group  discussion, we soon discover that our fears are  not as big as we thought. The expression of fear many times  decreases the size of the fear. Now that we are accepting ourselves we can begin to see that we possess strength and a persistence to tackle whatever obstacle lies ahead.”

ACTION PLAN: Take your pen and /or pencil and begin writing your  thoughts  down in response to the questions posed in THE DEPRESSED ANONYMOUS WORKBOOK. You can find questions that not only help you discover what your strengths are but also how to put these strengths to use in your own personal recovery.

SOURCES:   (c) Believing is seeing: 15 ways to leave the prison of depression. Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. Pages 57-58.

(c) The Depressed Anonymous Workbook. (2002) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.

(c) Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition. (2011) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.

For information on ordering publications please VISIT THE STORE here at our site. You’ll be happy that you have found someone who writes about their own journey and struggles with depression.

 

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I will make a decision to get better today!

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” I know that with time and work that I will get better and out of my depression. I believe that though I might feel helpless, I am not hopeless. I will make a decision to get better today. ” The TENTH WAY to leave the prison of depression.

“One of the most heartening phenomenon of our 12 Step program for a person depressed is to see how quickly healing becomes apparent in those who keep coming back to meetings. The healing shows on the faces of all those who keep coming back to meetings. The healing definitely shows on the faces of all those who also commit themselves to getting better. The work that one has to engage in is the deep desire to quit sadding themselves. This means that a person depressed  really must make a commitment to themselves, so that with time and work they can leave the prison of their depression.”

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SOURCE:  (C) BELIEVING IS SEEING:15 WAYS TO LEAVE THE PRISON OF DEPRESSION,(2015) HUGH SMITH. DEPRESSED ANONYMOUS PUBLICATIONS. LOUISVILLE. Page 51.

(C) THE DEPRESSED ANONYMOUS WORKBOOK. (2002) DEPRESSED ANONYMOUS PUBLICATIONS. LOUISVILLE.

Belief

GET CONNECTED! CHOICE NOT CHANCE DETERMINES DESTINTY!

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The NINTH WAY out of the prison of depression.

The following is an excerpt from the book, Believing is seeing: 15 ways to leave the prison of depression. (2014) Smith, Hugh. Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.

“Withdrawing from friends and other social contacts is the first clue that you are slipping back into the isolation and pain of depression. Move toward a friend, get a sponsor, and go to a 12 Step meeting. Ask your Higher Power for that nudge that can guide you onto the appropriate path.

There are two times that we need to go to a 12 Step meeting, 1) One, when we don’t want to attend a 12 Step meeting and 2) secondly when we  do want to go to a meeting. From my personal experience I can share with you that it’s when I go to my meeting that I am able to come away from it with something positive to think about. I can honestly say that I feel better after a Depressed Anonymous meeting. I know in my heart that when I just want to sit at home by myself, isolating and ruminating within my head about all the horrible things that have happened to me, or are about to happen to me, that is when I depress myself even more. Get connected. ”

It’s not complicated.

Belief

I found my energy coming back!

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 PLEASE TREAT YOURSELF KINDLY TODAY! BEGIN TO PLAN PLEASURABLE ACTIVITIES INTO YOUR LIFE TODAY!  The EIGHTH WAY  to leave the prison of depression. An excerpt.

“I think one of the two things which depressed people feel lacking is in not having mastery over the way they feel and believe. Secondly, they seem to have lost a desire to perform a pleasant activity which they might attach their interest. One of the things I recommend for people depressed is to find one pleasant activity which they once enjoyed before  being immobilized by  their present depression. I think it is a good learning experience to believe that  my depression won’t last forever and that someday I can feel better. In other words, I can still try and do that one thing that was a pleasant activity before I got depressed!  We feel “we have no reason to treat ourselves kindly” we may say to ourselves -because we can’t find anything hopeful or of interest in our lives at the present. We also feel that because we are so bad we don’t deserve anything good…”

“At a time when I was especially feeling a total lack of energy I would go and lie down -why fight the fatigue? But then I learned that if I would reject the thought of lying down and instead interest my attention in an activity such as typing on my computer  I found my energy coming back. The thought that I was too tired to do anything disappeared in a short while. Weird, but it works!”

What pleasant activity have you planned for today?

SOURCES:  Copyright(c) Believing is seeing: 15 ways to leave the prison of depression. (2014) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. Pages 43-46.

Copyright(c) I’ll do it when I feel better. Hugh Smith. (2012) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.

VISIT THE STORE  for a variety of works dealing with depression and the 12 Steps of recovery. You’ll be glad you did.

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It’s always today!

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Following is a quote from a great book titled: The dark night of recovery: Conversations from the Bottom of the Bottle. Edward Bear. Health Communications. Deerfield Beach, FL. 1994, 199.

” … Here’s a poem that was found scratched on the wall of a Nazi Concentration camp:

I believe in the sun, even when it isn’t shining.

I believe in love, even when I don’t feel it.

I believe in God, even when he is silent.”

“Painful,” said Bob.

“Hopeful,” said Tyler.

“The person who wrote that probably died in the gas chamber.”

“Probably.”

“So what good did it do him? asked Bob. “Believing all that stuff?”

“Everybody leaves the planet someday, Bob. That’s not the point.”

“Well, what is?”

” I used to drink in a place  that had this big sign over the back bar: Free beer tomorrow. Every day I went back expecting free beer, but it was never tomorrow -it was always today.Took me years to figure that out.” (Pages 25-26).

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It is always today! I get it!

 

Acceptance, Belief, DA Literature

Depression gradually dies in the light of…

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The following is an  excerpt from the Depressed Anonymous Publication,  Believing is seeing: 15 ways to leave the prison of depression. 

The SEVENTH WAY  on how to leave the prison of depression.

“Today is all that we have. Don’t let dwelling on yesterday’s hurts and fears about tomorrow, rob you of peace today. Contrary to what you might have thought -you are responsible for how you think and feel. I want to be responsible for my depression even though I feel it’s difficult to face the fact that one of the ways of getting out of my depression is to stay and feel the pain of my sadness. I have to live in the here and the now – I can’t run and hide in the unknown of tomorrow or disappear into the gloomy fog of yesterday. We begin to get mentally healthy when we take it upon  ourselves to admit 1) I have a problem, 2) secondly, I need to change the  way I think about myself and my world. Again, no one need blame us for the fact that we got ourselves depressed -but once we know and believe that we are depressed – we learn that we need to take full responsibility for our recovery. One of the best ways to break our dependency on our sadness is to share/admit our depression to members of our Depressed Anonymous groups.  We know how depression flourishes and grows strong in the privacy  and solitude of our minds. Depression gradually dies in the light of open sharing and frank discussion. We are only as weak as the secrets we keep.”

SOURCES:  Copyright(c) Believing is seeing: 15 ways to leave the prison of depression.(2014) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. Pages 36-41.

   HOME STUDY PROGRAM: (c) Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition.(2011) DAP. Louisville.  Plus (c)  The Depressed Anonymous Workbook.(2002) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.

Please VISIT THE STORE for more helpful information  on ways  to leave the prison of depression

Belief, Exercise

Mastery is what we regain

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KEEP PHYSICALLY FIT!  IT IS A MUST FOR US WHO ARE AND WHO HAVE BEEN DEPRESSED. MY WALKING NOT ONLY RESTORES HARMONY TO THE BODY BUT IT RESTORES MY SELF-ESTEEM AND SELF-CONFIDENCE.

THE SIXTH WAY TO LEAVE THE PRISON OF DEPRESSION: AN EXCERPT

“One of the major areas to remember when someone says that they are depressed is to recommend that they get some physical exercise. So many times when we find that we are depressed, feel listless and lacking energy we tend to recoil from any activity that attempts to force us out of our isolation and inactivity.  At one time in our lives, any task or type of activity, even the smallest might have been cause for happiness and a continual life of productivity. When we are depressed , we just want to lie down and sleep. We feel that we have no mastery over our life, thoughts and future. What  we forget is that this is the nature of depression. We believe that there is no use in getting active because we just can’t get the energy to  attempt anything that requires  positive response. No use to get active –I won’t like what I am going to do anyway.  When we are depressed we know that our body’s  metabolism slows down and we lose interest in almost all those hobbies and activities previous to our depression,  which brought us happiness.

Mastery is what we regain when we force ourselves to get out of bed, get going and start an exercise program on a regular basis.” (Our lives might depend on it).

SOURCE: Copyright(c) Believing is seeing: 15 ways to leave the prison of depression. (2014) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. Pages 33-36.

12 Step Meeting, Acceptance, DA Literature, Depressed Anonymous, Depressed Anonymous Workbook, Higher Power

We can feel a change happening…

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THE FIFTH WAY OUT OF THE PRISON OF DEPRESSION: AN EXCERPT

“Remember that an oak tree was once an acorn –recovery begins by taking one step at a time as well as reading DEPRESSED ANONYMOUS literature and regularly participating in the meetings.”

How often do we meet people in the program who want the quick fix, the easy way out, the feeling getter -now! But just as it might have taken years for the person to learn how to get themselves  depressed, it will take time and work to start to feel better. I do believe that all good growth in nature is gradual and that if we want the good growth to continue, we need to follow certain steps  to make sure this growth will continue. One of the first things that we want to do is to admit, like any  thing, person or substance to which we are attached/addicted to,  which we cannot free ourselves from the attachment by will power alone. We ask our Higher Power, this  power greater than ourselves, to free  us. We begin our recovery by meeting with our local Depressed Anonymous group and admit by our presence that we want to change.  We are dissatisfied where we are now and decide to work on ourselves so that we will feel better. By our taking one step at a time we can feel a change happening. Many people have  been depressed for years-they are in so much pain that they want relief now. The members of the group are taking full responsibility for their feelings, moods and behavior.

If you want some inspiring stories of persons who have freed themselves from the deadly grip of depression and isolation, please read their stories  in DEPRESSED ANONYNMOUS, 3rd edition. (2011) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. Pages 110-152.

THE  HOME STUDY PROGRAM: Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition is combined with another publication The Depressed Anonymous Workbook (2002). These two separate publications provide an individual with an opportunity to further their recovery on their own, with the possibility of getting a Depressed Anonymous  mutual aid group started in their own community. The best help for ourselves is in helping others.

Please VISIT THE STORE to discover  a plentiful resource for books dealing with depression and our 12 Step recovery program, Depressed Anonymous.