INGLEWOOD DEPRESSED ANONYMOUS
Los Angeles area
Meeting every Sunday evening
Contact: URL http:// inglewooddepanon.com/join-us/
Everyone welcome!
Category Archives: Supportive Actions
“I wanna be free!” (Part 2) HOME STUDY PROGRAM
HOME STUDY PROGRAM
Today we want to continue to share more about how the Home Study Program, using the Depressed Anonymous Manual and the Depressed Anonymous Workbook can gradually facilitate a better understanding of the nature of depression and our response to it, using the spiritual principles of the 12 steps of Depressed Anonymous
The reason most people use the Home Study Program is that it is a simple and straightforward way to begin to walk on the path that leads out of depression.
So, I admit that I’m depressed. Now what do I do? The next thing we do is to ask ourselves how much can I dare admit to myself how out-of-control I really am? How much do I dare tell myself that I have really hit bottom and that I have nowhere to go but to ask for help? I have been afflicted with this tendency all my life to run and hide whenever I was challenged by a task, a relationship or old unpleasant memories that frightened me. I would run and hide. I would be willing to barely admit to myself that what I was feeling wasn’t really me. I also came to believe that the sea of gloom that I swam in day after day would one day drown me – the exact day and time just happened to be unknown at the time.
One of the things that keeps giving me hope at the Depressed Anonymous fellowship meetings or here on our website (Depressed Anonymous) is where we can continue to read about how others have been successful in leaving their own prison of depression. We see a real challenge that can open a new Vista – a new way to live out our lives and open up hope before us. One man said that the God of his understanding uses him and his depression for helping others who are likewise depressed. In other words, God will use your depression to help others.
You will learn that you have the choice as to whether you want to stay depressed or choose to learn the ways to get out of your depression. In fact you will also learn that you have the opportunity to feel differently, if you so choose.
SOURCE: The Depressed Anonymous Workbook. Page 5.
One of the most powerful experiences and benefits of being a member of the Depressed Anonymous fellowship is at that you will learn that you have the choice as to whether you want to stay depressed or choose to learn the ways to get out of your depression. In fact you will also learn that you also have the opportunity to feel differently, if you so choose.
“We” is the first word of step one. It is a very important word to remember because it sets up immediately sets up a group fellowship with people who are having the same difficulty. It also makes us feel that we too are not alone, but that there is someone else out there that is experiencing the same difficulty as you and me.
One the best part of being a member of Depressed Anonymous is that we don’t have to be alone if we don’t want to be. That might sound strange to some of us but we have to admit that what keeps us depressed is our need to keep apart from other. To remain disconnected and isolated. We have a need to be by ourselves and to stay apart from human contact. For to be in contact with others like me is that we will have to take some risks and to make some choices. But when I am depressed and alone I don’t have to make as many choices or take any action except to keep isolating myself and staying apart. This Home Study Program will help you see that it is in being part of a bigger group, with people like yourselves, which will gradually give you the desire to be part, share and stay involved in your own active recovery using the 12 steps of Depressed Anonymous. ”
Source: Home Study Program: (c)The Depressed Anonymous Workbook, pages 4 and 5.
“One of the more constant behaviors of the individual depressing is to engage in fewer and fewer pleasant activities. The person depressed just can’t bring himself or herself to do anything that might cause a sense of elation or pleasure. If you feel that you are bad, worthless and without any value, then you can’t get yourself to do something that might make you have a good feeling about yourself. An individual depressing can make him or herself feel anxious, sick and even faint. With the support of a group like Depressed Anonymous and the fellowship here on the web one can begin to see that life doesn’t have to be lived alone and in misery. And that is precisely the miracle of the group. You begin to see that you can stay parked in neutral in your misery and feel hopeless or you can step out in faith as most members of our group do, and admit that you’ve had it with the sadness and begin to choose life. I do believe and know a renewed sense of hope is in our hands – we can choose to be sad or by our inaction could choose to live without purpose and joy. It’s a risk we choose to take. ”
SOURCE: HOME STUDY PROGRAM: (c)Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition. (2011) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. Page 37.
NOTE: The Home Study Program/Kit includes both the Depressed Anonymous Manual and the Depressed Anonymous Workbook. This Program is available for purchase online here at the Depressed Anonymous Website. Other literature, which applies to the 12 Steps and to the experience of depression are likewise available. Check it out.
Symptoms of inner peace
Be on the alert for symptoms of inner peace. The hearts of a great many have already been exposed to inner peace and it is possible that people everywhere could come down with it in epidemic proportions. This could pose a serious threat to what has, up to now, been a fairly stable condition of conflict in the world.
Some signs and symptoms of inner peace:
A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experiences.
An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
A loss of interest in judging other people.
A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
A lost interest in conflict.
A loss of the ability to worry. (This is a very serious symptom.)
Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.
Frequent attacks of smiling.
An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.
—Anonymous
Let’s Get Real – The “Snap Out Of It” Advice Doesn’t Get It!
Let’s get real! How often do we hear people who’ve never been depressed tell people depressed to just “snap out” of their depression? Answer? Too many times.
In our Manual, Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition we read “I don’t believe you can snap out of your depression, or suddenly and dramatically get your life turned around by going to one Depressed Anonymous meeting, or reading the 12 steps five times an hour. It just doesn’t happen that way, especially if you have lived with your depression for any length of time. Even though we emphasize that depression is not a disease, we do want you to know that depression over a long period of time can cause physical problems and upset the metabolism of the human organism. More and more, doctors see how positive feelings, attitudes and emotions can help cancer patients maintain a remission and stay free of a recurring cancer condition. Unpleasant emotions such as fear, anger, resentment, tension and depression all work against recovery.
I would call the sadness that has been with us for as long as we can remember, a learned way to respond to certain negative stimuli. What you will be doing when you come to a Depressed Anonymous meetings is to get involved in your own healing. You will find other men and women who are struggling with the same pain as you are. You will discover that the first step in coming to grips with depression that won’t quit is for you to surrender it, quit fighting it. Let the God, as you understand God take over your life and help let it restore you to sanity, peace and understanding of the way in which you can find the path out of your depression and pain. Depressed Anonymous works if you begin the work of the spiritual program that we’re going to outline in this book. Depression is a moral problem and as such there needs to be a moral solution, one part of which is to admit that we are responsible for ourselves and that we can’t blame it on genes, psychological predispositions or one’s spouse or some other situation. We are going to take charge. We choose to un-depress ourselves. Today! One day at a time!
…But let me warn you — it isn’t easy to do something different from what you have been doing most of your life. This is especially true when it comes to the way we see ourselves, our world and others. There are no magic pills and no easy answers to bring us immediately out of this inner pain and anguish. It does take time and work.
If you really want to leave behind your painful sadness, the daily tears, and the feelings of worthlessness, then begin now to admit the unmanageable mess of your depression. You have had it with feeling out of control!
That’s the way it is with depression – over the years you get comfortable with feeling miserable, which doesn’t mean you like it, but that you’re just too afraid to risk doing something different. When you want to change and leave your depression behind, the choice that you want to make is immediately dashed to the ground because you feel there is no hope for you. “I can’t pull myself up by my bootstraps and start to feel better,” you tell yourself. Most the time, we tell ourselves that we will do it when we feel better. (See reference to” I’ll do it when I feel better” below). Folks, let me tell you something – you will never feel better until you begin to physically get moving! We all know that we feel better only when we get into gear and get busy – distracting ourselves from those ever present miserable thoughts which whisper how bad we are and how hopeless life seems to be.”
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SOURCES: (c)Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition (2011). Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. Pgs. 31-32.
(c) I’ll will do it when I feel better. (2015) Hugh Smith. Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.
(c) The Depressed Anonymous Workbook, (2002)(Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.
VISIT THE STORE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON DEPRESSION AND THE HEALING POWER OF THE 12 STEPS.
ALSO LEARN HOW TO USE THE HOME STUDY KIT FOR YOUR PERSONAL RECOVERY PLAN OF ACTION!
A potent means of recovery
The Twelve Steps are the essential beliefs and at the very core of Depressed Anonymous. The Depressed Anonymous recovery program was modeled on Alcoholics Anonymous. which was originally developed to help men and women deal with their addiction to alcohol one day at a time. The Twelve Steps have been found to be a potent means of recovery for those who desire to free themselves from their compulsions. The Twelve Steps are basically a program of letting go of our compulsions and handing over our will to the care of God, as we understand God. Essentially, our program is a Step by Step way to change not only our addiction, but our way of life. Change happens when we choose to change. The fellowship of the group and our desiring to make changes in our life is what provides our life-giving spiritual experience. Most people get organized religion and spirituality mixed up. Depressed Anonymous achieves strength from spirituality without set creed, dogma or doctrine. All the program asks of a person who come to the meetings is only to have a sincere desire to stop the compulsion of saddening themselves.
We make no apologies for our faith in a God that can restore us not only to sanity, but to serenity and joy as well.
“We never apologize for God. Instead, we let God demonstrate through us, what God can do. We ask God to remove our fear and direct our attention to what God would have us be. At once, we commence to outgrow fear.” Alcoholics Anonymous.
SOURCES: (c) Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition. (2011) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. Page 162.
(c) Believing is seeing: 15 Ways to leave the prison of depression (2016) Hugh Smith, Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.
(c) I’ll do it when I feel better. (1986, 2013) 2nd edition. Hugh Smith . Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. Ky.
Being depressed means isolation
How do I know if I’m depressed?
“Being depressed means isolation – and being cut off from everybody and everything. It is like being in prison, like a pit where the walls are like soft clay and I cannot climb out. To me the isolation is pre-hell and often I feel so dead inside. There is an awful feeling, that hole in my soul which is like a clenched fist. I don’t know where to turn with all the pain and hurt. I can’t imagine anyone hurts the way I do and I hope no one does. I would never want to inflict this pain on anyone, so I tried to hold it inside and it seems like it’s too much to bear, especially alone. This is where Depressed Anonymous comes in – this is where powerlessness and God come in. There was no one to help, even to try to understand before Depressed Anonymous. No one wanted my pain and others started to avoid me. I understand better now, especially since I’ve been around Depressed Anonymous via Hugh and the book Depressed Anonymous,3rd edition and the journaling I’ve done. My hope is that I will be more at peace and will try to use the specific tools which continue to be great helps in overcoming depression while giving me hope — just for today.”
Source: Mary C, Sterling Heights, Michigan.
Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition.(2011) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.
Visit the Store for more information on Depression and the use of the 12 Steps.
PRAYER
“The power of persistent prayer is not that God will hear us, but that we will finally hear God.”
Today I want to keep the focus on myself
AFFIRMATION
Today, I’m going to keep the focus on myself and I aim to take responsibility for myself.
“… There is one great advantage about seeing yourself as helpless and in the power of others. You don’t have to be responsible for yourself. Other people make all the decisions and when things turn out badly you can blame other people. And things always turn out badly. That’s why you always expect the worst.”
REFLECTION
It is when I no longer blame others for my problems that I begin to see that how I turn out is ultimately up to me. My happiness or unhappiness depends on the choices that I make. No one needs to feel sorry for me any longer because I am depressed. I know that I am responsible for me and that I have made the decision to get myself undepressed and to stay undepressed.
It’s most difficult to make decisions when I have hardly the energy to get out of bed in the morning. It’s always difficult to choose one way or the other because in the past, most of my decisions have usually resulted in failure. Today and everyday I will make the decisions to learn all I can about the various ways that I use the 12 step tools of recovery to release myself from my hopelessness.
MEDITATION
We now have hope that our expectations will come true for ourselves as we begin to take responsibility for ourselves.
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Source: Copyright (C) Higher thoughts for down days: 365 daily thoughts and meditations for 12 step fellowship groups. (1999) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. Page 64.
HIGHER THOUGHTS IS AVAILABLE ON THE KINDLE eREADER.
Visit the store for more information on Depressed Anonymous literature.
“WE HAVE THE TOOLS TO BEGIN THE WORK OF CHANGING BEHAVIORS FOSTERED BY DEPRESSION.”
THE BEAST
“… We are also under an increasing obligation to confront our illness, seek the proper treatments, and to the extent we can, begin the work of changing the behaviors fostered by depression. This is not blaming the victim; it is – to use a trendy phrase – empowering the victim. To fail at this is, to surrender to the devouring self-pity this illness can engender, violates an unwritten law of society which needs all the talents and energies of every member. To remain a victim of depression when I’ve been given the tools to be healthy, or at least healthier, means that I am withholding a part of me from people who might need what ever I have to give.”
SOURCE: THE BEAST. A reckoning with depression. Tracy Thompson. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1995. Page 13.
TOOLS FOR THE DEPRESSED
We recommend the HOME STUDY KIT, comprised of the Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition manual (2011) Depressed Anonymous Publications, and The Depressed Anonymous Workbook (2002) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville, Ky.
VISIT THE STORE FOR FURTHER DETAILS ON THESE TOOLS — PRODUCED BY THOSE WHO LIVE OUT THE PROGRAM OF RECOVERY IN THEIR OWN LIVES.
Friends are good medicine
Research continues to show how friends or social support can play a significant role in maintaining good health. One of the studies published in 1992, in the Journal of the American Medical Society, examined 1,368 heart patients over time. The Duke University study found that those persons who lacked a spouse or confident were three times as likely to die within five years of diagnosis than those who were married or had a close friend.
In an article on the study, ( in New York Times of February 5, 1992, page’s C – 12), it was noted that the Duke University researchers had concluded, ” a support group may be as effective as costly medical treatment. Simply put, having someone to talk to is very powerful medicine.” American self-help clearinghouse, Denville, NJ 07834.
As any member of a 12 step support group, or mutual aid group can testify, just being able to share one’s own story with others like ourselves, can produce healing and hope. To know that we no longer have to suffer alone is in itself a great source of hope!