Sigmund Freud was once asked what people needed to be happy. The questioner no doubt expected a long, complicated answer reflecting Freud’s years of deep reflection on the matter. His simple response, however, was “arbeiten und lieben”, – work and love. Happy people feel connected to others at work and through their intimate relationships. When those connections are threatened and diminished or broken, people suffer. others at work and through their intimate relationships. When these connections are threatened and diminished, or broken, people suffer. Today, millions of Americans are Americans are suffering from what my colleague Charles Derber calls “double trouble.” Those in double trouble have neither meaningful work nor sustaining intimate ties. The withering community life in both domains fosters a rootlessness and social disintegration that unquestionably contributes to the growth of emotional disorders.
David Karp. Speaking of Sadness: Depression, Disconnection, and the Meanings of Illness. (1996) Oxford University Press. New York. Page 178

It has been my personal experience that for as many years that I have been involved with Depressed Anonymous and other 12 Step fellowships how vital community is for us who seek healing, help, and hope. It is such a strength that those of us who use the program and attend the meetings find we are part of a loving community. We are part of a community where others care about us and share with us, and then we become the “miracle of the group” for others.

Today in our world, our global depression is of pandemic proportions. There is no vaccination for depression, of which I am aware. But what we do have is each other. There we can form relationships with others just like ourselves. We can have a sponsor who can listen and share their own experiences with depression giving us hope. Indeed, and speaking metaphorically a shot in the arm. So, what the world needs now is for each of us, by our WORK and LOVE of each other, to thrive – not close ourselves off in isolation and despair. Our “home” group where we go every week, virtually or face-to-face, is in this context of fellowship that we are “rooted” and become a family of friends–not acquaintances.

I have friends that I first met in DA that go back thirty years or more. Depressed Anonymous means growth, community, and serenity.
Please join our fellowship and be part of an ever-growing and loving community worldwide. We are not alone!

Often, I find myself face to face with those orange traffic cones warning me of a pothole in the roadway ahead, approaching lanes to change, or workers ahead.

Over the years, I have found myself battling negative thinking with the resultant spiraling down of my moods which because challenging to shake off. But after many years of doing the same thing over and over, meditating how bad I was, I found myself being more careful of, one, how I talked to myself, and two, learning that the best way to find myself in a deep unpleasant mood, was to continue these self-defeating thoughts- the self-bashing.

I am at a point now in my recovery that I know when a past unpleasant thought pops up in my head, like the orange road cones, that I am aware that I need to heed the warning and steer clear of that mental pothole about to derail me and throw me in a ditch too deep to remove ourselves.
What I do, though, is to face the fear with that instant adrenaline surge, not run away but continue to meet the feeling, acknowledge it for what it is, an unpleasant feeling, uncomfortable but not life-threatening, and so move along.

I also replace the fear with a sunspot, a pleasant memory of ourselves, if you will, and dwell on that pleasant memory with persistence. Be grateful that no longer will you let a fearful thought scare you into submission and inaction. Now you have a helpful and powerful way to stay out of the potholes of your thinking. You will be able to feel the strength and purpose by having a new direction for your life.

Hugh S.