“Hope can exist only in a state of uncertainty. That certainty means total certainty. That security means to be without hope. The prison of depression is built with the bricks of total certainty.

Certainty. Security. No hope. To hope means to run the risk of disappointment.  Avoid disappointment. Stay depressed.
To be insecure means not to be in control. Stay in control.  Be  depressed. To be uncertain means  to be unsure of the future. Predict the future with certainty. Stay depressed.

Hope  can only exist when there is uncertainty.   Absolute certainty means complete hopelessness. If you want to live we must have freedom, love and hope. So life must be an uncertain business. That is what makes it worthwhile.”

Source: The way out of your prison. Dr. Dorothy Rowe, 1983, 1996 (2nd edition). Fount. London.

Hope is to seek things and have the expectation that what we desire will  come true .  In the matter of depression Dr. Rowe warns us that when we predict that we will always be the way we are is to predict a life of certainty but one that is without hope. In the way we construct our world we would begin to live with some uncertainty and with this uncertainty  we  are  going to little bit by  little bit accept  some pain, hurt and disappointment in our life. This is not bad but is not always pleasant. When we are depressed it is not so important always  to know how we got to be depressed but what is is important is how we see our depression. Do we believe, like Dorothy Rowe, that we will always see our self as bad worthless, unacceptable to our self and to others when we are depressed? If this is the way that we want to look at ourselves then we are sure to believe that we will never change. We hold these beliefs about ourselves as immutable truths – absolute and ever binding. This is this thing about depression – we believe it will always be this way – namely, this hollow feeling and the deadly emptiness that we carry around in our bodies, day after day, year after year.

… To live with uncertainty is to live with some hope that our tomorrow will be different than our today. We hope for things not yet seen. We hope for things to be different. This is the identity of the person who is working the 12 steps of Depressed Anonymous…”

Source:  How to find hope and let it blossom.  Depressed Anonymous Publications. 1995. Pages one – two.

Bill W., writes “In my own case, the foundation stone of freedom from fear is that of faith: a faith that, despite all worldly appearances to the contrary, causes me to believe that I live in a universe that makes sense.

To me, this means a belief in a creator who is all power, justice and love, a God who intends for me a purpose, a meaning, and a destiny to grow, however little and haltingly, toward his own likeness and image.  Before the coming of faith I had lived as an alien in a cosmos that too often seemed both hostile and cruel. In it there  could be no inner security for me.

“When I was driven to my knees by alcohol, I was made ready to ask for the gift  of faith. And all was changed. Never again, my pains  and problems  notwithstanding, would I experience my former desolation. I saw the universe to be lighted by God’s love; I was alone no more.”

SOURCES: AS BILL SEES IT.  Page 51.

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

“While AA and (Depressed Anonymous)  has restored thousands of poor Christians to their churches, and has made believers out of atheists and agnostics, it has also made good A.A.’s out of those belonging to the Buddhist, Islamic, and Jewish faiths.  For example, we question very much whether our Buddhist members in Japan would ever have joined this society had A.A. officially stamped itself a strictly Christian movement.

“You can easily convince yourself of this by imagining that A.A. started among the Buddhists and that they then told you you couldn’t  join them unless you became a Buddhist, too.  If you were a Christian alcoholic under these circumstances, you might well turn your face to the wall and die.”

Bill W., co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, in As Bill Sees It.

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The World Health organization has stated that Depression is a global problem and that ethnic and religious populations are all affected by depression.

Persons from almost every nation come to our website, seeking help.

They are also able to read our BLOG and gain hope, guidance and the tools which can  help free them from the pain and isolation of depression. The also learn that they are not alone.

Some of our more flourishing Depressed Anonymous  groups, members  are located in Iran, an Islamic republic.  We are in contact with them  on an ongoing basis. Presently, they are translating our Workbook and Big Book into Farsi, the Iranian mother tongue.

Also,  our Depressed Anonymous Big Book has been published in the Russian language and is available to all those who speak Russian.

Depressed Anonymous works for people who believe in a God.

DA works for people who are unsure of a God.

DA works for people who do not believe in a  God.

DA works for people who think they are God.

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Source :  Prayer of the reluctant:  God Help me–But not just yet!

Today’s societies, actually  a consumer oriented society  in which   the latest “gizmo” or the latest “just have to have it”   item appears on the horizon or on the market.

Now that Christmas is over, all gift packages    unwrapped and all the “gizmo’s”  batteries from our toys have gone dead, it’s back to square one. It’s back to thinking about which of our many video games to give our undivided attention to.  Or it’s time to return our gifts that either don’t fit, mechanisms don’t work as well as we thought, or they don’t quite fit in with our tastes for our  home décor.

Now add to all of this, at least in our Northern hemisphere, longer and dark days, plus the frigid temperatures.  Most of us stay inside  our homes, unwilling to brave the snow, sleet and  icy roads.

A common two word complaint from the younger generation that I didn’t hear much of when I was growing up is “I’m bored.”   Also, “there is nothing to do.”  “What”  I say to myself, “how can this be?”    There is so much to do!

I believe that all of the above is a set-up for melancholia. We are face to face  with ourselves, and with no particular purpose or meaning for our lives except looking for some form of  immediate  gratification.  We become isolated in our negative thoughts and begin to feel alone and like nomads in the midst of a desert with no map  indicating what our next step should be.  Life sometimes is like a chess game where we are  check-mated–no where we can go to escape  being trapped and totally isolated. And by  being “bored”  and “with nothing to do” we  may slowly and imperceptibly descend into the enveloping quicksand of depression.

“Is this all there is?”  No, not at all, but if YOU  are all there is,  then  you may  probably   find yourself trapped and isolated.  Everything will come to a standstill, excepting that painful  hollow feeling in your soul that material possessions, prestige or pride will be unable to fill.  What will heal this gaping hole in your spirit?  What will allow you  to again look beyond your self so that you might see that this world filled with color and beauty can once again be yours?

Here is what I have discovered after having been trapped, isolated and depressed. I discovered and became part of a fellowship that helped me gradually climb out of my depression where I found out that “there is more!” Yes, there  is hope beyond just what I have, what I own or my desire for  more. There is the hope that what I have now has nothing really to do with anything material –it has to do with the  belief  in a  Higher Power greater than myself -a God of my understanding.

This Higher Power, and  this fellowship of Depressed Anonymous has for these many years  led me to others who  are looking for something to believe in – something to hope for. Possibly your own feelings of worthlessness and helplessness, which were my feelings too before  Depressed Anonymous as well. It is here where the   freedom  and the spiritual principles of the Twelve Steps continue  to provide  me   peace and joy  to this very day.

Hugh

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Read my story (there IS more!)  and many others in our DEPRESSED ANONYMOUS, 3rd edition,(2011) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.

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