That very same question is one which I also found myself asking. How long will this pain last? The good news here is that for the 85% of people who become depressed, their sad mood usually has been noted to leave for different periods of time. Some say that normally mild and moderate depressions last for about a year or so. That was pretty much my situation. It was only after a year and a few months that the fog of my depression lifted. Some researchers claim that on average almost 80% to 90 % of persons depressed find the depression gone during this time frame. Some say that depression symptoms are self- limiting. All I know is that I could not fix whatever had taken over my life. But I did know this. I couldn’t continue to stay isolated. Withdrawing from everyone made it so much worse. Instead of a place of safety, it became my depression.

In the Depressed Anonymous book we read how the author shares “that our withdrawal from others has given excessive power to those already entrenched feelings of worthlessness and sadness. It seems that our inactivity and social isolation just help build higher and stronger walls to our prison. This is why we need to hear stories like Bob who was one of the original members of Depressed Anonymous who felt that the Depressed Anonymous meeting was one of the few places where he could be himself. He was with people who understood him and they didn’t consider him crazy or reinforce his own feelings that he might be losing his mind. ”

I believe that Bob, who couldn’t fix himself, discovered that it was only when he broke out of The Closed system of Depression with its syndrome of symptoms, no longer withdrawing from friends and family. Instead, Bob began attending Depressed Anonymous meetings where he began to feel accepted and no longer alone.

Bob learned as we all have, that once we tend to the various symptoms of depression, working their own synergy in creating this syndrome, trapping us in a downward spiraling vortex of hopelessness and despair. It is at this point in our recovery where we take these five symptoms one by one and start to work out a positive recovery strategy for developing our thinking, our feelings, our behaviors and motivating ourselves to use our tools for recovery and putting each of them into practice. Accomplishing this goal, we can find a refreshed spirit, a healthy body and a mind sharpened by being part of the DA community. We are no longer alone now. By being active participants in our own recovery , we gradually find that our lives have become happier and that we now have a renewed and purpose for our lives.

NOTE: The various symptoms which create the closed system include our cognition, feelings, behavior, motivation and what makes up our physiological self. Each of the five symptoms can be negative or they can be positive. The secret is to gradually break into any of these symptoms and by doing so, you will find positive alternative ways to think, instead of being possessed with those continued negative thoughts and ruminations. You will find ways to change negative self talk which is always self critical and start learning how to think ways to love and prize oneself.

RESOURCES

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

(C) The Closed System of Depression. Depressed Anonymous (1987) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. KY.

(C) Tools of Recovery. Go to depressedanon.com Home Page and click onto Tools For Recovery

“For the depressed person, giving up old ways of thinking and acting is much like giving up any other addiction. At first letting go of the behavior  makes us feel uncomfortable. The old behavior wants to cling on to our spirit like swamp mud hangs on to knee-high boots.  Before your participation in Depressed Anonymous you would go home from work, get by yourself and ruminate on how bad you felt.  The new behavior will help you think differently about yourself. You will find that the Higher Power, or the God of your understanding is not the same God that you might have met when you were  young.  When you were a child, you came to believe that first, God was watching you, ready to punish you if you were not perfect. You will begin to develop an adult new way of being related to God, as you understand God to  be. With time, persistence and patience, you will gradually trust your life to this Higher Power. ”

RESOURCE: (C) Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition.(2011)  Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville, KY.

When Bill W., (co-founder of AA) had his spiritual awakening in the hospital room  he tells us that “the room lit up with a great white light. It seemed to me, in the mind’s eye, that I was on a mountain and that a wind not of air but of spirit was blowing. And then it burst upon me that I was a free man. I lay on the bed, but now for the first time I was in another world, a new world of consciousness. All about me and through me there was  a  wonderful feeling of Presence, and I thought to myself, “So this is the God of the Preachers.!”

RESOURCE:

(As Bill Sees it. Pg.2 )

“For the depressed person, giving up old ways of thinking and acting is much like giving up any other addiction. At first letting go of the behavior makes us feel uncomfortable. The old behavior wants to cling on to our spirit like swamp mud hangs on to knee-high boots. Before your participation in Depressed Anonymous you would go home from work, get by yourself and ruminate on how bad you felt. The new behavior will help you think differently about yourself. You will find that the Higher Power, or the God of your understanding is not the same God that you might have met when you were young. When you were a child, you came to believe that first, God was watching you, ready to punish you if you were not perfect. You will begin to develop an adult new way of being related to God, as you understand God to be. With time, persistence and patience, you will gradually trust your life to this Higher Power. ”

RESOURCE: (C) Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition.(2011) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville, KY.

When Bill W., (co-founder of AA) had his spiritual awakening in the hospital room he tells us that “the room lit up with a great white light. It seemed to me, in the mind’s eye, that I was on a mountain and that a wind not of air but of spirit was blowing. And then it burst upon me that I was a free man. I lay on the bed, but now for the first time I was in another world, a new world of consciousness. All about me and through me there was a wonderful feeling of Presence, and I thought to myself, “So this is the God of the Preachers.!”

RESOURCE:

(As Bill Sees it. Pg.2 )

A Dutch language translation of Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition has been published worldwide today.  Check out Bol.com for more detailed information about this new Dutch publication.

A Dutch member of Depressed Anonymous provided the translation and set up for this global edition for those who speak Dutch. Congratulations.

Gloria reminisces about some of the feelings that she had experienced at a few of her first Depressed Anonymous meetings. It was there at these 12 Step meetings where she not only found herself but some friends who were going through the same battles as herself. When asked if she would like to share her thoughts with a wider audience she agreed that would be a good thing for her to do. In her testimony she shares how she knows that in helping others she helps herself.

The following comments are taken from the Depressed Anonymous manual where her story is included in the Personal Stories section.

Depressed Anonymous is now meeting at a church. I’m a facilitator whenI am needed. Something I never thought I could do five years ago. I pray before I go to meetings and ask God to speak through me to help these people. I always go to a new person, as I vividly remember my first meeting, and make them feel welcome. There are four of us who were together first on June 6, 1985. We have become very good friends. I still remember the things the counselor from the very beginning told us. I’ve seen people come and go. Some helped, some for just one meeting, some wanting a magic wand waved. It has helped me over the rough spots, and gave me courage to go on as a widow. I have found a peace in my life, a special joy in knowing and loving people. In helping others, I have helped myself. I know my background in life has made me depressed at times. My Mother ws abusive and I realized later in life that it was an emotional illness. I forgave her.

I moved to Evansville ten years ago. It is hard to make friends in a new city. But through my support groups at church, I have made lots of friends, super friendly people.

I will continue to attend Depressed Anonymous. Every meeting is different and who knows what mystery each group holds? One never knows who needs me, who needs a smile or hug, who needs to feel that they are not alone or who needs to know that there is a God who loves all.”

If any of our readers here have ever been in prison, the phrase “time on the shelf” refers to the days or years one has left in their sentence to complete before they are released. Good behavior while incarcerated is one of the ways the prisoner can reduce some of that time on the shelf.

A few years ago, a prison staff member and myself spent time setting up Depressed Anonymous meetings in a prison setting. To say the least, it was a sobering experience for myself. It was also a very rewarding experience as well. Rewarding in the sense that there were men wanting to talk about their experience with depression with other fellow prisoners. We had permission from prison Psychiatrist and the Warden. We were given permission to talk and visit with prisoners who wanted to come to the meetings.

Altogether we had three groups of Depressed Anonymous. The groups were facilitated by the staff member, myself and prisoners who already were part of the fellowship, and attended other 12 Step meetings in the prison. AA and NA were an important part of the daily life of any of those who chose to attend this or that fellowship. My point is that they already were working the Steps and attending recovery meetings. They never had been to a DA meeting, sharng their own experiences with depression, until now. Not many of the men had heard of the Depressed Anonymous fellowship till we brought it into their lives.

One of the three groups met in the mess hall. Another on a stair well. And one met in a conference room. Space was limited. With all of this the men came faithfully to the meetings. What impressed me the most was the honesty of those participating. What they were sharing was held in confidence by each group member. It was a sacred trust for the members to keep confidential anything and everything that was shared in the group.

For a DA member to share anything in the prison yard that was shared inside the group would defiitely not bode well for the person talking outside the group. Every man knew this rule had no exceptions.

One of the most discussed issues among the men was how sad they were and how their past was not only locking themselves in prison – it also locked some men out of seeing their children grow up without them. Many times their girlfriends would drop the man for someone else on the outside. Some were saddened by the fact that no one contacted them from home. No one from home came to visit them. This was the greatest pain.

Feelings of anger and despair continued to eat them up. It was here in the group that this emotion poured out of their hearts and souls like molten rivers of despair.

Women with small children, mothers of sons incarcerated, women with boyfriends and husbands managed to meet on any occasion that was permissible.

For myself, this whole prison experience was bitter sweet in that 1) the prison authorities allowed us in two times a week for our meetings, and secondly 2) the therapeutic salve of free sharing about hurts and loss of control, gave each man a sense that he was not alone. The actions that brought him to prison in the first place, gave him time to get some help with all the pain and loss of control over his life that was in his face on a daily basis. I could feel in each group an invisible bonding between each other who were gradually coming to “believe that a power greater than themselves could restore them to sanity.” (Step Two)

Some of the best expressions of freedom I found in a prison at Depressed Anonymous meetings. The freedom experienced by these men, by their group meetings happened in spite of steel bars, locked wards, locked cells and prison guards. Twice a week, for an hour and a half, these men talked of personal remorse, the darkness in their own lives and how the Steps and the spiritual principles continued to provide hope and way out of their own feelings of despair and hopelessness.

Because of what I experienced with prisoners personally over a three year period I know the change that resulted in my own life and the life of those incarcerated, the same positive results, can be replicated with any and all those incarcerated.

***Submitted by Hugh S, a member of Depressed Anonymous in Louisville, KY.

If you, the reader, have knowledge of any man or women incarcerated and facing time on the shelf, please let me know. We will send them a copy of the Depressed Anonymous Manual and Workbook.

Anytime I get a call for material it comes from the prisoners themselves. We will write to whomever you choose, and send our 12 Step literature. Free of charge.

Our email is depanon@netpenny.net or you can write to us as a comment at our website www.depressedanon.com. We want to hear from you.

Hugh