Category Archives: DA Literature

DA Literature, Fellowship

Why can’t I think my way out of depression?

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Good question. You know, I tried to do just that. First, I asked why?  Then I moved on to what is going on here in my body?  I just knew, mistakenly, that all I had to do was just say a prayer (even though that is always a good idea) or change channels of thought in my mind. Click!  I was back where I wanted to be.  Back into life again.

I knew that life had changed drastically for me in the last few months. I had gotten myself on a path that led deeper and deeper into a very low mood, one that quite frankly worried me.  I didn’t feel sick or like I had the flu. I just started to feel irritable and moody. It was like I was emotionally sliding down a slippery slope and there was no way to stop the downward motion. I was in a free fall. That is what really got my attention. That is when it was time for me to yell help!

That is time for me to just sit and think and try and figure out this mysterious circumstance in which I found myself.  It was as I was trying to watch a video of myself  these last few months and to sort  out what had caused this gradual deepening spiral  which ground my life to a halt. I ran out of physical and emotion gas.  All my best thinking couldn’t get me to budge. I was down and out. Even my mind couldn’t  do anything for me –it was busy conjuring up all sorts of awful and frightful symptoms that convinced me that I was losing my mind. My concentration was zilch! I felt more than worthless. My mind and my body became enemies. My bed and sleep became my  best friends. And then, the moment came.  It was like a far- away voice that whispered to my psyche  “do something. Do anything! Move it! I did what the voice suggested. I moved my body. I began to walk and walk some more and I began to feel like I was starting to spiral upwards.

I had an “aha” moment at this time. Thinking wasn’t the way out–it was moving the body that was the clincher. It was the exercise of every nerve and limb in my body that got me back on track. I  began to believe  that I couldn’t think my way out of my isolation any more than I could fly. My mind had me go around in circles always ending up at the same desolate place.

I will cut to the chase now and share how my life came back together. It’s when I began to hook  up  with a bunch of people like myself. I had heard that they were freeing themselves from depression by coming together and sharing their feelings, hope and strategies for getting back on track with their lives.  The people in the group made me feel welcome right away. I knew I was home and that they had a message that gave me hope. It was that belief in myself that helped me choose the way out of my depression. It was the tools they provided me that helped me find a way to live free and without depression. It was like a miracle really.

This group is Depressed Anonymous. There is no charge and it is organized around people like myself who were depressed and who found recovery, unity and the opportunity to help others just like themselves. And just as our body and spirit got strengthened, so did our thinking.

 

SOURCE: Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition. Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville, KY  40241

 

 

Depressed Anonymous

How soon and how quick can I be free from the pain and isolation of depression?

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Recently someone wanted to know “how quick could they be free from the pain and isolation of their depression?” How soon can they get back on the playing field of life? It was like, how can I hurry this mess up in my life, and get going full steam ahead. They wanted to feel the way did before they got knocked down by those feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. Well, I guess they thought it would be like going to the doctor and asking how long this flu or cold would last? Normally, that would be a fair-enough question to ask. We all have asked it. We have all asked it because we were sick and tired of being sick and tired. We wanted relief. The jitteriness and hollow feelings which depression was causing was just too much to live with.

But as we all know this question can only be answered with time and the frequent and active participation in the fellowship of the group. It is by reading the texts of the Depressed Anonymous manual and attempting to put these principles into daily effect in one’s life. Also, one can begin to feel some improvement in their lives as they slowly gain a belief, a faith if you will, that they too can get better. If others can do it “I can as well” they tell themselves. Yes, this will be their truth.

With time, patience and sharing they begin to accept themselves for who they are and change what they don’t like in themselves. By the fact that one comes to a meeting is in itself half of the battle in overcoming one’s depression. It is this interminable isolation that keeps the depression at its height and intensity. It is only when a person can admit that their life is out of control and begin to trust the group with their story: a painful journey describing how they got to the point where they are today – isolated, anxious and hurting. Much like a full-body toothache.

The program is a very simple one-but this doesn’t mean that it is easy. All change is painful and if we are to grow we have to change. We have to resolve some of these old issues that keep popping up in our lives. They want our attention but we continue to cram then back in place and don’t want to took at them. But the only way to get free from these feelings of painful despair is to face these feelings, as difficult as they are, and move along with one personal change after another. We start by making choices which benefit our new feelings of hope and serenity.

The first step in getting past our depression is to first get into the door of a Depressed Anonymous meeting. And if you don’t have a Depressed Anonymous meeting in your town then you can find literature at our website (www.depressedanon.com). This will be a great start in gradually chipping away at our fears, our pain and debilitating isolation. There is no quick fix. All good growth is gradual – even with medication it still takes time to tell if the medication is working for you.

In the meantime, check out articles on our website where you will find articles talking about what you are feeling now and with a promise that you too will feel better.

Hugh

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

Click onto the VISIT OUR STORE and go to Depressed Anonymous Publications Bookstore to see what literature is available. You can order online.

Depressed Anonymous

Lack of power, that was our dilemma

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The following excerpts are quotations from the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous. Because our Depressed Anonymous fellowship was modeled on the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Step spiritual principles for recovery, It is appropriate for us to utilize and put into practice in our daily lives what has been proven to work for those who are part of the 12 Step fellowship recovery programs. Depressed Anonymous is one of those programs.

“Lack of power, that was our dilemma (yes-no?). We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a Power greater than ourselves. Obviously. But when and how were we to find this power? Well, that’s exactly what this book (A.A. .45) is about. It’s main object is to enable you to find a Power greater than yourself which will solve your problem.

…deep down in every man, woman and child, is the fundamental idea of God. It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form or other it is there. For faith in a power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstration of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself. We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make-up, just as much a fact as the feeling we have for a friend. Sometimes we had to search fearlessly but He was there. He was as much a fact as we were. We found the great reality deep within us. In the last analysis it is only there that He may be found. It was so with us. We can only clean the ground a bit. If our testimony helps sweep away prejudice, enables you to think honestly, encourage you to search diligently within yourself, then, if you wish, you can join us on the Broad Highway. With this attitude you cannot fail. The consciousness of your belief is sure to come to you (AA.p. 55). Some of us grow into it more slowly. But He has come to all who have honestly sought Hm. When we drew near to Him He disclosed Himself to us.” (AAp.71).

Step 2 Instruction

We needed to ask ourselves but one short question: Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe that there is a Power greater than myself?” (yes-no?) As soon as a person can say that they do believe, or is willing to believe, we emphatically assure them that they are on their way. It has been repeatedly proven among us this simple cornerstone that a wonderfully effective spiritual structure can be built. (A.A 47)

If you answered yes, congratulations, you have taken step two and we emphatically assure you are now on your way! ”

SOURCE: http://w.w.w.big booksponsorship.org.

“At each Depressed Anonymous meeting we hear different members of the group tell how the Higher Power helped return them to a peace, a serenity that they had never experienced until they started coming to Depressed Anonymous and began working on themselves. Now they can spend time in prayer and meditation with the Higher Power guiding their lives through the times of darkness. In time they have found giving up their depression to the care of the Higher Power almost a pleasure. It is our belief that if we want to begin to live, we must surrender our addiction to depression. The more we are tempted to seek comfort and bash ourselves with thoughts of how bad we are, the more depressed we become. But on the positive side, the more we begin to take mastery over our thinking and our listless behavior, the smaller, gradual gains we will make in seeing some light at the end of the tunnel by living just for today, that is, one day at a time, and not in the hurts and the anger of yesterday or the fear and anxiety of tomorrow, we will begin to see a spark of light coming over the horizon” (D.A.p.41).

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

Depressed Anonymous Workbook, Journaling

Depressed Anonymous offers a Home Study as an alternative path for recovery:

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An alternative path:  The Depressed Anonymous  Home Study Program of Recovery has been offered for those who cannot find a   Depressed Anonymous group in their area. One of the drawbacks to finding a Depressed Anonymous meeting in one’s  community is the nature of the problem in that depression  has our life shut down.  Depression is such that it isolates and  immobilizes. We don’t want to move out of our comfort zone. We’ll take care of our problem when we feel better. But we never feel better and so stay in our isolation. It is only when we feel we have to get help that we move toward a solution for our depression or whatever it is we have.

Depression is not a substance addiction problem, even  though we modeled our program on the 12 spiritual principles of Alcoholics Anonymous. Like so many problems  facing our modern society,  many people have  put the  power of these principles to work  in their own lives, be that of overeating, opioids addiction and a plethora of compulsive behaviors, phobias and  so on.

Depressed Anonymous  formed as a mutual aid group where others,  like ourselves,  have come together, utilizing the 12 Steps of recovery  and have found a way out of their depression.

When people ask us for a group in their area  more times than not we suggest they use the tools that we offer at our site and come together and form their own group.  But for those who cannot do this, for all sorts of reasons,  find  themselves without the help that they are looking for.

This is where the Depressed  Anonymous Home Study comes in to help. With this program, a person can use the Depressed Anonymous Manual and Workbook. They also can be provided with a sponsor to work their program online. The program is conducted via emails between the Home Study participant and the sponsor.  The  12 Steps are examined and applied to one’s own experience with depression by answering the questions provided  by Home Study. From having a positive experience with the Home Study Program of Recovery some of the participants have begun a Depressed Anonymous program in their own community. Before the Home Study Program of Recovery  there were no DA groups in their home community. After the Home Study Program was used , and a thorough study of the Steps was accomplished , a group was set in motion. Sometimes a therapist was obtained who helped the participant work the Steps. Sometimes a member of another 12 Step fellowship  could help  share  how their own involvement with the Steps  provided them a release from their addiction.

To learn more about the Home Study Program we have given you some resources   at our website www.depressedanon.com for your examination

Kim shares her own experiences with the Home Study Program in Volume #1 Fall  Issue of the DA Newsletter.  She tells us about the “before” of working the Steps and the “after” of completing the Home Study an how it freed her from the captivity of depression and isolation. Please read it–be inspired as was I.   Her story is to be found at the NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES on the Home Page Menu list.

Also, a full explanation of the HSP and what it is about,  is explained at the Depressed Anonymous Home Page Menu-See HOME STUDY PROGRAM.

Depressed Anonymous groups also use the HOME STUDY as the basis for the STEP STUDY home group.re are different and creative ways to use this tool for recovery from depression. Also remember that there is available a sponsor to help the participant work through each of the Steps.

NOTE: I f you desire to start a group in your community is  also advisable to have worked all the steps yourself. We  can then share that we have worked through all the Steps and that we have a Sponsor.

A member of a newly formed  Depressed Anonymous group in an international community is now started with the Home Study and will be the first member of the group to go through all the Steps with a Sponsor. Congratulations to her and her group. It is a positive that the questions contained in the Workbook have a unique relationship to one’s own life as the steps are applied to one’s own life situations.

 

You can contact us at depanon@netpenny.net. Thank you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 Step Meeting, Depressed Anonymous Workbook, The 12 Steps

Our hunches are more right than wrong.

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We think about the 24 hours ahead when we wake up, and attempt to live the day in honesty and peace. We ask God to  ward off thoughts of self-seeking, dishonesty and false motives.  As Alcoholics  Anonymous says,  with the indecision about something, we then ask God for inspiration and we let go of struggling for an answer. Alcoholics Anonymous says that you will be surprised at how the right answers will come after we have practiced this way of living. It also comes to pass that our hunches are more right than wrong. We also pause throughout the day when we are fearful, puzzled or anxious. We pray  to the Higher Power for which direction to take. I like this suggestion the best when Alcoholics Anonymous says : We constantly remind ourselves that we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day “‘Thy will be dome,’ ”  We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish decisions. We become more efficient. We do not tire so easily, for we are not burning up energy foolishly as we did when we were trying to arrange life to suit ourselves.  By coming to the meetings and admitting our addictions, we finally get in touch with those emotions that have all but shut down from an early time in our lives, when to feel hurt too much.  We now have  the chance  to let these feelings get displayed and expressed in the supportive and trusting environment of our newly chosen  family of the Depressed Anonymous group.”

SOURCE:   Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition. (2011) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. Ky.  Page 101/Step 11.

NOTE: Even though most of us who join the Depressed Anonymous group, do not suffer from alcohol addiction,  Depressed Anonymous is  modeled after the 12  spiritual principles of Alcoholics Anonymous. We have based our  program of recovery on  the 12 steps of recovery and using them on a daily basis. The 12 Steps are now universally used as the basis for a myriad of recovery tools  for those who are trying to free themselves from addictive behaviors and attachments.

 

VISIT THE STORE at the DEPRESSED ANONYMOUS PUBLICATIONS  BOOKSTORE. at www.depressedanon.com. One can order online.

Depressed Anonymous Workbook

They said that I was ‘damaged beyond recovery

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Kim, The author of this comment, speaks  about those  therapists who said  that she was ‘damaged beyond recovery.’ Even though   experiencing  a myriad  of therapeutic interventions, various psychiatrists, psychologists and psychotherapists, her depression just kept on coming. There seemed to be no escape.  Included with all these were a number of popular every 12 Step groups from  which she sought help.

In the following paragraphs,  with excerpts from  the  Depressed Anonymous Newsletter Volume .#1, Fall Issue, 2017,  she shares   her own  experiences . (See Newsletter Archives for full account). She shares with us her  life  Before and her  life After   participating in the Depressed Anonymous HOME STUDY PROGRAM OF RECOVERY.

What my  life was before Depressed Anonymous

While all my program friends had gotten full recovery, the Promises of Recovery had not materialized for me. I would stay depressed forever. This destroyed me. I quit the program and started to take antidepressants, but even that didn’t work: The depressions got  more intense and more frequent. I didn’t want to live anymore. One day I found the Depressed Anonymous site on the Internet, but there was no meeting in Europe.  There was a book though. So I made a deal with God; I could go through the Twelve Steps one last time. And after that I could jump  in front of a train. It was now or never. So I bought the book, and the workbook, and I asked Hugh to become my email  sponsor. That was three years ago.

What my life is like now.

I never expected this, but I have been free from depression for a whole year now.  The next depression will kill me, so it is very importantr to stay out of it. Every Sunday I sit behind my computer and answer questions from   the Workbook. I send them to my email sponsor, who reads them, gives me feedback and stimulates me to keep going.  I discover important things about myself…

In  Depressed Anonymous, I discovered my conclusion was wrong. I do belong to the  group. Indeed, I have always been part of the group. People with odd parents are part of society as well and so are depressed people and people that did rally stupid things. There is nothing to hide. I am human, no more, no less…

I made a deal with my Higher Power, one more time I would take the Steps. I am so happy that I did.

Submitted by Kim, a member of the Depressed Anonymous fellowship.

PS.  Kim has started an online Depressed  Anonymous for SKYPE users at Depanon@hotmail.com.  She is also translating Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition into her home  language.

Kim has  just completed (1/30/2019)  her work on the HOME STUDY PROGRAM OF RECOVERY,  with the assistance of her email Sponsor.    By her  continued commitment and  study of the Depressed Anonymous (Big Book) with the Depressed Anonymous Workbook, she not only knows herself at a deeper level but also lives out the spiritual principles of the Twelve Steps with hope and vigor. One day at a time.

If you would you like to work the Twelve  Steps of Depressed Anonymous, using the Home Study Program of Recovery  and to find  how to have  an email Sponsor, as did Kim,  please write to me, Hugh  at depanon@netpenny.net., and discover how you too can work the Twelve Steps , with a program designed for you — plus  the unique  goals you have chosen for your own recovery from depression.

Make a commitment today, stick to a plan of action, and  grow through  each of the STEPS with your own email sponsor –at your own speed –especially when there are no Depressed Anonymous groups in your locale. See the Depressed Anonymous Publications Bookstore to find out more  about the HOME STUDY  KIT.

Depressed Anonymous

Is there an alternative?

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Jonathon Rottenberg in his work, The Depths: The evolutionary origins of the Depression Epidemic tells us that

“The mood system has a bias to return to deep depression even with little provocation. Fortunately relapse is not inevitable and it can be countered. Antidepressant medication is currently the domionant strategy for buffering a person’s risk of relapse. Using antidepressants as the first line of defense is consistent with  defect  models, such as the biological model of kindled depression. In line with the idea that drugs address a permanent viability, psychiatrists  often recommend a life time  of antidepressant maintenance treatment for people who have previously experienced three or more episodes.”

This same author goes on to share how antidepressants aren’t the only  proven means for  slowing down or preventing depression. In this section of his book he goes on to explain how other treatments such as cognitive therapy and    mindfulness-based  cognitive therapy provide alternate care . He explains how “the success of brief, psychologically based treatments is encouraging not only because the treatment works, but because it speaks against  the existence of a permanently  brain-based vulnerability to depression.”

With all that has been said here, I would like to add another reality and alternative  for treatment of depression.  Simply put, the treatment occurs in the  midst of those persons depressed who share their struggles with each other. They are no longer alone, shamed and existing on the margins of those  who are  needing understanding  and  support. The group not only can provide moral and physical support, they can be buoyed by a spiritual l belief  that a God  of their understanding,  a Higher Power,  is  guiding  them on the path of their own  recovery. They not only have other members of the group walking the same path as  are they, but this support is buttressed by having a  personal plan of action.

For those of us who are  active members of Depressed Anonymous, we know first hand how our Twelve Step plan of action provides us all with a way out of depression. Whether we happen to be on antidepressants, in a therapy program,  or other forms of help, we discover that being in the midst of a group of person like ourselves, and receiving mutual aid for our own individual pain, it makes it possible to be positive about  our recovery. We are not alone. We now have the tools and we have each other. As we all are so much aware, it is the being dis-connected from life and others that makes our life hell. For most of us,  it is in the being dis-connected that drives us deeper into isolation  and personal despair.

If you the reader are depressed, and you are visiting with your doctor, ask her if she has a depression support group that she might refer you to. You can tell her that it makes sense to talk with someone who has been were you are now. It takes one to know one!

As a therapist, it was always my practice to refer clients to a  Depressed Anonymous group. Those who kept coming back to meetings had a plan in hand that was not only providing hope but the tools for living outside  the prison of  depression.  We need health professionals to be able to provide their patients with other mental health opportunities as alternatives to traditional approaches to depression or in conjunction with them.

Have a hopeful day.

Hugh

SOURCE: Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition. Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville KY.

Go to The Depressed Anonymous Publications Bookstore,  at VISIT THE STORE for this and other helpful books  on depression. You can order material online

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12 Step Meeting, DA Literature, Depressed Anonymous, Depressed Anonymous Workbook

I want to start a Depressed Anonymous group in my community? How do I do that?

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This month (12/2018) we have had four requests to start a Depressed Anonymous group in their particular locations. Three were requests from individuals living in the US and one was from a person from Canada.

Our first inclination would to advise them to go to our Newsletter Archives at our Home Page Menu and read the issues from #1- through and including the Newsletter for 2018. Each of the Newsletters has a section about our program of recovery as well as other important information about overcoming depression. Each is titled “How to Start A Depressed Anonymous group.”

Since all of our Groups worldwide use the Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition Manual, it serves as an excellent guide for each of the newly formed Depressed Anonymous group membership and part of their ongoing program of recovery. There is a chapter in this Manual for the Leader of the Group with an example suggested for leading a Depressed Anonymous Group. Also, included in the Manual is a chapter on How to Start a group.

Like most 12 Step programs of recovery they each have their own way of conducting meetings. The 12 Steps and the 12 Traditions of Depressed Anonymous are read at every meeting. Also included in every meeting is the reading of The Statement of Concerns plus How Depressed Anonymous Works.

Most 12 Step groups also have their own “Big Book” which is what the Alcoholics Anonymous program is referred to. In a sense, this is the bible for the fellowship and most members know it by heart chapter and verse. If you want to start a Depressed Anonymous group in your community it is a given that you will want to have a copy of this important book, authored by the early members of the fellowship. In fact, we think it essential to have copies of this book available at each and all meetings. If you are going to be a founder of a local DA group we hope you read this book before you set up your own group meeting. After 30 years working with Depressed Anonymous and helping to set up groups around the world, we have found ourselves continually reflecting on various passages which guide us in our own daily recovery.

You can order Depressed Anonymous Online plus other books written by those of us who WERE depressed. The sale of books provides us with revenue to share hope with others who are in need our support. Please click onto The Depressed Anonymous Publications Bookstore at depressedanon.com for more information.

We want to hear from you and are looking forward to another group meeting the needs of those “Still suffering from depression.”

Please email us at depanon@netpenny.net. Locate us at www.depressedanon.com.

Depressed Anonymous Workbook

Who is in charge here, anyway?

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The God of our understanding

Please reflect on how the group that you are part of, Depressed Anonymous  , has helped you find acceptance, and mercy, from this God   of your understanding.

A comment from the AA Grapevine:

“…The faith of my Sunday school days was gone, and the “God of my understanding” was far off. (But not so far as I thought, as it turned out). It stretched me to even imagine “a power, a strength, and for me to   became willing to take this route. I wasn’t ready to take on God just yet.

However, God was ready to take me on, for in my ignorance I’d done about all that AA asks –I had become willing. And this is how he did it. In some casual reading about seeds, this statement caught my attention: “Science can construct a seed identical to a natural seed in every detail but one -science’s seed will not germinate.” The words seemed to leap from the page. They demanded answers. What is the missing ingredient in the man made seed? Is it some dimension I don’t know about? Is it in everything? Even people? And then the big question. Who is in charge here, anyway?

Backed in a corner finally, by a logic greater than my ego, I conceded. Too many miracles, too much coincidence, and too much evidence of a power greater than  myself all around me left me defenseless and in awe.  I surrendered. And the power wasted no time in reinforcing my new belief with these words from the Big Book:” We found that as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to fully define or comprehend that power which is God…

He is always there if I but look, feel and want him to be; my conscience contact  is dependent upon my being willing.”

How willing are you now to continue the progress that you have made so far?  Please note how willing you are  to help your fellow sufferers of depression in Depressed Anonymous?

Pages 81-82. The Depressed Anonymous Workbook. Depressed  Anonymous Publications. Louisville. KY

Question: Does the natural beauty that surround us everyday lead us to the thought — how did all creation come to be?

Higher Thoughts for Down Days

I am beginning to trust myself!

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“The more I am able to break out of my isolation and fear, the better I begin to feel.  It’s like my past sadness and my attachment to it has prevented me from doing anything at all, including the pleasant feelings of joy and serenity. I have lived tied up in the cords of fear and anxiety. I am learning that this Power, whom I choose to call God, is steadily releasing me  from these  bonds, the more I face my fears and the shame of being depressed.

At one time, I found it difficult to place much trust in those people who crossed my path in this life. Now, little by little, I am beginning to trust myself as I am feeling more in control of what I feel, think and do.”

It is in trusting others, namely, those in my fellowship group of Depressed Anonymous, with whom  I share my hope and positive beliefs about myself. These feelings, when they come time and time again, free me gradually from the prison of my depression moods.

Copyright(c)Higher Thoughts for Down Days: 365 daily thoughts and meditations for members of 12 Step fellowship groups. Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. Ky.