“You don’t even know what it’s like to live with a mental illness  the way I do -depression is a very real thing.”

Depression is nothing to scoff at. However, in this day and age of political correcteness, fear of unintentionally offending someone and overall awareness of a  widespread amount of topics, the aforementioned statement certainly begs the question: is depression an mental illness?

According to the The Mental Health Foundation, “Depression is a common mental disorder that causes people to experience a depressed mood, loss of interst in pleasant things, feelings of guilt or low self worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy, and poor concentration.

So clearly not a mental illness, correct? Well, then, what makes this so?  What differentiates the two?

As Psych Central puts it, “A disorder simply means something that is out of the ordinary, which depression, and other mental disorders are. They are more specifically a cluster of symptoms that research has shown to correlate highly with a specific emotional state.”

Thus, “mental disorder” or “emotional irregularities” if we know Psych Central’s logic, and other commonly thought of “mental disorders”  in popular culture are actually in reality, including bipolar disorder (yes, it’s in the name, but it’s still often mistaken for an illness) and anxiety,

So   what marks the difference between disease and  a disorder, mental or not?

As Psych Central puts it, “Diseases are manifestations of a problem with some physical organ or component within the body.And while the brain is also an organ, it is one of the least understood and easily the most complex organ in the body. Researchers and doctors refer to a diseased organ when  something is wrong with it. (Via a Cat scan or x-ray or laboratory test). But with our brains, we have no test to say, “Hey, there’s something clearly wrong here.”

So, even though depression is a horrible reality that often feels like its own disease, it is but a disorder, and we should let the world know this , especially when Tumblr tries to pull  the “mental illness” card. Mental conditions such as Alzheimers are formerly recognized as mental illnesses, and Alzheimer’s is certainly something that should not be romanticized or used to portray heroism of sorts.

Either way, both mental disorders and diseases are very real realities, but we shouldn’t let then stop us. We can only  get through life as we usually do, one day at a time.

Check out more information on the topic here (https://mental health.org.uk/a-to-z/d/depression) and  here (https://psychcentral.com/lib/what-is-depression-if-not-a-mental-illness/).

SOURCES

Grohol, J.M. What is depression if not an illness? Psych Central(https://psychcentralmental. com/lib/what is depression-if-not-a-mental-illness/)/Depression: The Mental Health  Foundation (https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/d/depression) HOME

HOME (HTTP://WWW. QUANTUMRUN.COM) CULTURE EVOLVED

Copyright(c) Lydia Abedeen Aug 16, 2017 1:15PM  @Lydia_abedeen (https://witter.com/lydia_abedeen)

I have always felt that the best way to try and live a life of peace and hope, especially when I was depressed, was  to be part of a group.  The group of my choice was  the Depressed Anonymous meeting.   It was at these meetings, plus reading the literature, written by those who  themselves had been depressed, all together provided me with the tools, the keys to leaving the barred doors of the prison of my depression.

In our world today, where we have the most technically advanced   communication tools ever used by humanity, we seem to understand each other less. A paradox if there ever was one.

In  this age of “selfies” and  less face to face communications between people makes communication even more difficult. If I am depressed my usual behavior is to go and isolate myself. It is in the isolation that my depression deepens and gets worse.

” It is recommended that you  commit to reading everything that you can pertaining to the 12 Steps, the Depressed Anonymous fellowship and how to feel better yourself.  You may want to   read some of the past issues of  the Newsletters at our website (depressedanon.com) plus past posts of which there are about 700 plus.

All this information will bring you up to speed as to who we are and what we are about. Let us know if there are any questions that we might be able to answer for you. We will be more than happy to help you.

Hugh

What is co-rumination but two people coming together and sharing with each other their own issue with depression.  Obviously, this can be a solution to the problem of trying to figure out the problem in your own head.

In our manual, Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition we can read more about what happens when we do not share our story with another.

“The more you ruminate about how sad you are and then how bad you are for being so sad, the more you have begun  the downward spiral  into physically feeling weak and hopeless.  This is the  time to call a friend or a member of the group(Depressed Anonymous). Just s ay: “Hey, I’m feeling sad and  this is the reason why I think I am feeling sad –and what do you think?”  More times than not, your sad feelings will melt away.” Page 93.

But we need to remember, a co-ruminator will not lead you down the road to more misery, but will continue to share with you the spiritual principles of the Twelve Steps.  There is such a thing as a positive rumination. This form of chewing on what is possible in overcoming our symptoms of depression gradually  leads  you out of the swamp  giving you the necessary tools to continue to live with hope and with positive avenues of living every day with serenity.

Hugh

________________________________________________________

For more information on literature from  Depressed Anonymous Publications, click on to the Bookstore.

“Jim, learned that he needed more  “SUNSPOTS” to bask himself in. These “SUNSPOTS”  are meditation times where we can focus on all those pleasurable events, people, places or things that can make us feel happy.  The trouble with most of us is when we are depressed it is that our whole life seems to go  into a deep pit and an eighty foot hole and with an eight foot ladder.

One good way to escape from the prison is to get with a group of people who by joining together each other’s  section of the ladder will eventually get to the top and out of this deep dark hole that we call depression. Think upon these small SUNSPOTS through out the day and know that you are gradually  coming into the light of a new day. Prepare a list of memories which at one time in your life were the cause of some joy and pleasure, and try to recreate that activity in your imagination as often as you can. At first, all you might be able to do is  to just  make a mental decision to do it even though at the time you don’t feel any particular pleasant emotion. Keep at it and with continual encouragement of the group, you will be able to recapture a little joy and peace. You will begin to have more mastery over your life and the world and this in itself can lower your feelings of sadness. When you have a negative image or thought which produces an unpleasant feeling, replace it immediately with three positive and pleasant thoughts or mental images. In DEPRES SED ANONYMOUS we call this THE LAW OF THE THREES.”   One negative thought is immediately replaced by three pleasant thoughts and/ or memories.” Pages 47-48. Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition (2011) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.

In the  Personal stories section of DEPRESSED ANONYMOUS (Page 114), a member of the fellowship tells us  how SUNSPOTS helped her face the work of freeing herself from the shackles of depression.

“Look for SUNSPOTS,   memories from the past that were happy times and ones which bring back happy feelings from years gone by. I tried, but none came to mind. But I did find that thinking about the book and what it said did make me feel a little bit better. The piece of a song popped into my mind, “Seek you first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness and all the others will be added to you. ” “Hey! A SUNSPOT” I   said to myself.

Then I felt a warm glow and then I did feel better–I did it! I made myself feel better. I can undepress myself! I had mixed feelings. I want to feel better, but admitting I depressed myself was not an easy thing t do.

I went back and reread the book, but now with an open mind. I have started to follow the Twelve Steps and with the help of the Higher Power, I can have a brighter future. I am making and putting in my memory a lot of  SUNSPOTS for those times when I am feeling depressed and when I can choose to draw upon when I feel that I need them.

I put up a “stop” sign for all negative thoughts and bring out a SUNSPOT to carry me through.”

-Anonymous. A member of the Depressed Anonymous Fellowship.

NOTE: If you are presently registered as a member of the  ONLINE HOME STUDY program,  please go to your DEPRESSED ANONYMOUS WORKBOOK (Question # 3.7) on page 16 of the WORKBOOK and answer the question for this subject of SUNSPOTS.

“Pretend that you are putting together  a photo album of the happiest moments  of the  most pleasant events of  your  life. Imagine they are still photos and that  you place them  in their  chronological order. When you feel  depressed you will then look through  the album  –one by one – and  you will  have a pleasant feeling take over your mind and heart. Now,  list eight pictures and the subjects that they represent.”

By working on this project, it can not only slow down the process of rumination (as discussed in yesterday’s BLOG). but it will also can distract you from that spiraling negativity that keeps you depressed and obsessing.

May your day be filled with SUNSPOTS

Hugh

I have been quite aware , early on into my depression experience, that I would continually attempt to find out why I was feeling so  alone, depressed and hollow inside. The anxiety that I felt was overwhelming. It was present wherever I would go. I couldn’t shake it.  I later learned that this, ruminating, is a big part of many people’s depression experience. It was definitely my experience. If you are feeling depressed it Is most likely a part of your thinking  life as well. So, let’s check out what others believe rumination is about. We will want to examine how it works and for my own life, the negative thoughts wouldn’t stop coming.  They cycled me down in that vast sea of  darkness and hopelessness. Nothing could keep me from this compulsive and obsession of trying to figure out (ruminate) why I was depressed.

So,  I looked up the definition of ruminating.

 Wikipedia tells us that ” rumination is the focused attention on the symptoms of one’s distress, and on its possible causes and consequences, as opposed to its solutions. Both rumination and worry are associated with anxiety and other negative emotional states; however, its measures have not been unified. In the Response Styles Theory proposed by Nolen-Hoeksema (1998), rumination is defined as the “compulsively focused attention on the symptoms of one’s distress, and on it’s possible causes and consequences, as opposed to its solutions.” Because the Response styles Theory has been empirically supported, this model of rumination is the most widely used conceptualization. Other theories, however, have posed different definitions for rumination. For example, in the Goal Progress Theory, rumination is conceptualized not as a reaction to a mood state, but as a ” response to failure to progress satisfactorily towards a goal.”

Rumination is the obsessive dwelling on negative factors and thoughts such as shame, guilt anger, and worry. Also, rumination can produce a cycling of thinking where we gradually   paralyze ourselves within the framework of hopelessness  and helplessness. Ruminating, we have discovered does not give  us answers nor is it a solution to our unhappiness and addictive thinking. We do not have a respite or that our feelings are changed.

This  can be put more simply:   Wikipedia states that when a person ruminates, he or she aims to answer questions such as:

How do I feel about this event?

How can I change my thoughts and feeling about the event?

How can I prevent disturbing thoughts and feelings in the future?

Wikipedia goes on to state that “The tendency to negatively ruminate is a stable constant over time and serves as a significant risk factor for clinical depression. Not only are habitual ruminators more like to become depressed, but experimental studies have demonstrated that people who are induced to ruminate experience great depressed mood. (Count me in on that. Editor).  There is also  evidence that rumination is linked to general anxiety, ptsd, binge drinking, eating disorders, and self-injurious behavior. ”

Healthy Self-disclosure

”  Although rumnination is generally unhealthy and associated with depression, thinking and talking about one’s feelings can be beneficial under the right conditions. Healthy self-disclosure can reduce stress and rumination when it leads to great insight and understanding about the source of one’s problems. Thus, when people share their feelings with others in the context of supportive relationships, they are likely to experience growth. In contrast , when people repetitively  ruminate and dwell on the same problem without making progress, they are likely to experience depression.  Co-rumination is a process defined as “excessively discussing  personal problems within a dyadic relationship.

(I find that the Depressed Anonymous mutual aid group, plus the sponsorship of another member of the fellowship of Depressed Anonymous can produce a respite and healing  from the negativity thinking which we call depression.  Also, and just as important, positive goals are established within the group fellowship at all  DA meetings.  Goals for recovery are also established with  sponsorship. The relationship with another is not only productive of healing but serves to provide the tools for personal recovery. In other words, by being part of a group  fellowship there is a gradual  breaking apart the cycling and spiraling  downward that keeps us ruminating and depressed.  This is where hope breaks into the circle of hopelessness.

Another important tool to limit the negativity in one’s thinking is to distract oneself, focusing on the solution, through daily journaling about hopeful goals, working on a set program  as discovered in the HOME STUDY PROGRAM, and exercising extra care by being  mindful of one’s surroundings, especially by daily walking in a natural setting. Just to distract oneself from all the negative messages which come automatically to our mind  can be short-circuited by distracting oneself with new pleasant thoughts and thinking. In the Depressed Anonymous manual, (Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition) it speaks of SUNSPOTS– these are those pleasant memories from  our past, which, like photos in our family album. conjure up not only pleasant scenes from our past  but also pleasant feelings are likewise conjured up with those positive  emotions which most often accompany graphic illustrations of a more happier period in our lives.

This program takes one’s own negative feelings and thinking  and begins clarifying one’s thoughts beginning the work of  focusing on solutions and not the problems of shame, guilt and fear. It is a process. According to Pennebaker, quoted in Wikipedia,   “healthy self-disclosure  can reduce stress and rumination when it leads to great insight and understanding  about the source of one’s problems.”

By disrupting one’s negative ruminating by distracting oneself, it is not uncommon that when the fog begins to lift slowly, the first thing   we can think of is the negative thought, “it won’t last.”  I know it happened to me.  Just that thought puts us right back into depression and we feel mentally paralyzed  once again. But, the point here is  to keep on doing those activities, such as go to meetings,  get a guide or sponsor, work the DA Workbook and read positive material on how certain Steps, like we practice in Depressed Anonymous, will gradually give you the freedom you desire. It works for me. And, it will work for you. Do this everyday, and you will find that it works.

Hugh

PS All comments about this article will be appreciated. Tell yourself, ” I am no longer going to be a negative  ruminator!

It was in the Spring of 1984 that I became acquainted with Jane. I was in Graduate school working on my Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology. The University was in Evansville, Indiana.  For my practicum (basically, a training course in counseling) I selected Jane. Jane was home bound, recently having undergone a seious heart attack with  needed surgery  to repair clogged arteries.

I took my recorder along to her home for our weekly sessions and week after week. Jane and I would talk and visit. Jane’s depression started to lift and gradually she began to feel her former cheerful  self again. She was talking again with her husband and children. She was again  cartooning and writing poetry which she had  lost interest in after her heart attack and surgery. But slowly, week after week, she gradually forced herself to  draw again and write one poem each week. This assignment was ongoing and by the time my sessions were complete, we had a more happy and serene Jane than the Jane that I had met on the first session. Thanks to Jane’s depression experience and her successful recovery after being so isolated, it came to me to  get these alone and isolated persons together so that they could inspire each other to hope again. I wanted to model the group on Alcoholics Anonymous.

In the Fall of the year I, with the help of the director of the local mental health association got referrals from the psychiatrists, therapists and counselors to  refer persons depressed to attend a 10 week pilot program that would deal weekly with each participants depression. It was a cognitive approach to how one’s thinking was directly influencing their moods and feelings. Everyone in the group, surprisingly, from the addict to the widow, to someone who lost their lifelong career, all  were able to find the group to be helpful in replacing their despair with hope.  With the help of a fellow graduate student we saw that a group program could assist depressed persons cope, deal and overcome their depression. Also, the participants now knew that they were not going crazy or losing their minds. They were no longer alone in their pain.

After Christmas of that year   a number of graduate students and myself started a Depressed Anonymous group on May 25th, 1985 in the meeting room in the basement of St. Mary’s hospital in Evansville. The rest is now history.

In the beginning, I thought that if only depressed persons would get out of their isolation and come to a group meeting and seek help, their depression would lift. Even though many professionals that I contacted about depressed people getting help from a self-help group didn’t seem to think it was possible. Some said that they thought that depressed persons wouldn’t have the energy to go anywhere, much less to seek help from a self  help group. Many could not get out of bed in the morning they felt so bad.

It is discovered that once a person comes back to the meetings week after week that the depressed gradually find their good days  get more frequent and their down days occur less often. In Depressed Anonymous we call it the “miracle  of the group.”

The spread of Depressed Anonymous is slow and sure. Thanks to Jane and her willingness to get better, an idea whose time has come, is now growing groups and “circles of hope“around the world.

Thanks Jane!

The Depressed Anonymous meetings are upbeat and hopeful, with special emphasis on the 12 Steps and focusing on personal recovery. You would do well to read our Manual, Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition. Depressed Anonymous Publications where more than thirty persons share their story about depression and how DA pulled them out of their misery,

Click onto The Depressed Anonymous Publications Bookstore for more information on depression and the 12 steps.

Please sign up for the Home Study Program where a participant can get one on one help by using the HOME STUDY KIT via emails to a Depressed Anonymous sponsor. Find out more from the DA blogs at www.depressedanon.com. Sign up date ends November 15.

Contact us at depanon@netpenny.net if you would like to register to be a participant.

   Home Study Program starts November 15, 2017.  Sign up today.  Two members of the Depressed Anonymous program  will facilitate your personalized  responses to the Depressed Anonymous Workbook and the Depressed Anonymous Manual.

There is no fee for this sponsorship of members.  To become members one  has to use the DA Workbook and DA Manual to  participate.  See how to Order online. The reason for developing an online program  is that we find is that there are not that many DA groups extent in the USA. We are hoping that in order to help those still suffering from depression that  they can now have a one on one  sponsor online who  will guide them through  the process of learning about depression as well as finding solutions for overcoming it. Of course this will take work, time and prayer to accomplish. We have no magic wand or magic pills that will take away the reasons for the pain you are experiencing now–but it will give you answers to your own situation. Because of the nature of our approach you will provide your own answers to the questions posed by our Workbook and by reading the Manual. Our guides will respond to your answers from the workbook and make their suggestions along the way.

Both of the sponsors who will relating to you and your work will be members of Depressed Anonymous.  One will be the founder of Depressed Anonymous and the other sponsor  will be the founder of  Depressed Anonymous  in his own community.

If you want to challenge yourself,as others have done with this Home Study program, jump  in and sign up. Many of you have tried everything to free yourself from the pain and isolation of depression.  Here is your challenge to take an individual and hard look at  your own life and be given the tools to overcome and deal with a very serious illness, which effects your physical, mental, emotional and   spiritual realities.

During your online program  participation you will be provided new and helpful ways to respond to those areas of your life which need your attention.

Importantly, we are not acting as therapists or taking the place of any professional medical person whom you are a client or patient of.  We are fellow sufferers reaching out to those like us who are looking for answers and help. We all are no longer alone!!!!!

Also we will hear from someone who  now wants to involve others in her community and join together to form their own Depressed Anonymous program.

Please contact us at www.depressedanon.com for more information.

Also, our email address is: depanon@netpenny.net

Thank you and hope that you will join soon in this positive and personalized approach to recovery from depression.

“The real risk is when that first inkling comes that because of your active and regular work in the Twelve Step depression group, you begin to feel a small bit of serenity growing inside of you. This is what scares us all. Our guilt, shame, our sadness in life have almost completely shut down our sense of spontaneity and playfulness, so that we are afraid of the new way we are feeling. Our first thought is that it won’t last. That is when we need to face the fear, stay with it, and it will flee. As long as you stay with these unpleasant feelings, keep working on yourself at meetings and telling yourself that you can beat these negative attitudes about yourself, and start to rebuild
your future and your world.
At this time, call a friend and tell them you need help rebuilding instead of allowing your fears to imprison you. You are now using those bricks to build a bridge between you and the other members of the group who want to free themselves from the isolating feelings of sadness and hurt. ”
_______________________________________________________________

COMMENT: As my depression worsened I started to walk 5 miles every day. Walking was one way that I could for a brief time escape thinking about the painful hollowness and meaningless that had gradually taken over my body and mind. It was like I was being sucked down into the darkness of quicksand. And just as I wrote the above account, I remembered so well how I believed the pain would never go away and if it did — when would this happen? But slowly after this continual activity of walking and doing what I had to do to survive, I felt a small glimpse and feeling of lightness. And the first thought that came to mind was that this good feeling wouldn’t last. In reality it was only a brief pause in my pain but I kept on walking. Shortly after that, the lightness and feeling of hope grew stronger and the day finally arrived when the fog, the cloud of hopelessness was gone. I faced my fear. I realized, like all healing, it takes time, work and prayer. Hugh

SOURCE: Copyright(c)Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition. (2011) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.Page 93-94.
For more literature on the subject of depression and the 12 Steps please VISIT THE STORE. ***ALL LITERATURE PUBLISHED BY DEPRESSED ANONYMOUS PUBLICATIONS IS WRITTEN BY THOSE WHO WERE DEPRESSED AND IN RECOVERY AND LIVING WITH HOPE AND SERENITY.

“I am rejoicing today as I think about how my life used to be to the way that it is now. I have an attitude of gratitude.”

“Can we actually carry the spirit of gratitude into our daily work? Can we get our newly recognized responsibilities to the world at large? And can we bring new purpose and devotion to the religion of our choice? Can we find a new joy of living in trying to do something about all these things? –The Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions. AA.

CLARIFICATION OF THOUGHT

The Twelve Steps of Depressed Anonymous are the pivotal points of my life now that I am engrossed in the work of recovery. The Twelve Steps are put to use in all affairs of my life today. I always have them to fall back on when I want to sad myself, when I feel myself going back to that old familiar way of thinking negatively about myself. I thank God for the Twelve Steps and the serenity that I have received from the practice of them all in my daily life.

I have a purpose in my life and that is to rejoice at the help I have received since I have been working my program. I rejoice that I am no longer considered helpless, but instead, find hope in each day as it comes along.

MEDITATION
The God of our lives is real to us because the program has allowed us to think of God the way that we want to think of him. We can think of God as our best friend and if I want to put a human face on him, that will work too. The program has truly brought me new joy and devotion to the practice of of religion in some of our lives.

SOURCE: Copyright(c) Higher Thoughts for down days. Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. Page 207. October 17

Click onto Visit the Store to order this work ( find it on Kindle) and discover other books which will aid in our recovery.

Remember that line? How many years was it that these familiar words were spoken by the man on the white horse, wearing white and who wore a black mask?   And after he did his good deed, people would ask each other: “Who was that masked man?”

After he came to the rescue of whom ever needed help at the moment, you could always depend on—The Lone Ranger and his sidekick Tonto. There you have it. I was watching one of the innumerable reruns that appear on one of the cable channels  while waiting for my appointment with the doctor last week.

A lot of us when depressed also know the feeling of wearing a mask when we are out with others, either socially or at work. The mask that I wore when I was depressed was to always have a fake smile pasted on my face. When asked, “how you doing” I always responded with a cheerful response.  “I’m fine.” I always had to be cheerful while dying inside.  I didn’t want to go around with a sad face, spreading gloom all about. But the real reason for the fake smile was to hide. I couldn’t let anyone in on my secret.  I in no way would I let others know the daily tug of war  that was going on inside me. Just to move about or just to be sociable was my main effort during the day. No one was to know my secret.

I tried to fake it till  I made it. Well, that didn’t work. It just made it worse. I felt that the real me was being hidden deeper  inside of me and I had no idea how to take the mask off, reveal who I was, and move on with my life. I just wanted ,to shout out to the  world  that ” I’m dying inside.”

It was when I discovered the “miracle of the group” and  the power of the spiritual principles of the 12 steps,  was I able to take off my mask. In the Depressed Anonymous fellowship I learned how to be the “real me” and no longer be afraid to tell who I  really was. I was able to do this  over time, with work  and with meetings and doing an online Step Study program with a member of the Depressed Anonymous fellowship where I became more confident and self assured that I was OK the way that I was. I wasn’t going crazy or losing my mind.  I now had no fear of telling others how depressed I was.  I began sharing  how for many years I had isolated myself, all the time beating my self up in my head.

When there is no Depressed Anonymous meeting in your area you too can find help online with a directed Depressed Anonymous online support Self study, program which includes both a Workbook and Manual (see Home Study Kit ). By using the Workbook and the Manual together, you can find the answers you may be looking for, with the direction of a sponsor. A member of our online Self Study program tells us how it has changed her life.  Also we utilize the wonderful SKYPE program to communicate with others around the world.

Helen, a member of the fellowship of Depressed Anonymous tells us  in her personal story in our Depressed Anonymous book(Manual)  that

“I also had to get my priorities straight. I put a  lot of importance on things that were not important, or what somebody else might say about me. I was afraid to change. I was afraid that I would change into a person that would be selfish and uncaring, but it didn’t happen that way. I found a different way to go about it. In getting my priorities straight, I discovered that if a person doesn’t accept me the way I am, then that  doesn’t matter. I am going to do the best that I can. If someone else can’t handle that I am awful sorry about that, but it has to be. I want everyone to approve of me, but  I am just not going to do that. I am not going to please everyone. I got to take  care of myself. I was so busy trying to  please everyone else that I wasn’t taking care of my own needs. At the time I was doing it, I didn’t realize that I was doing it. Now I won’t deliberately hurt anyone else , but I am going to take care of myself.

– Helen.

Source: Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition. (2011) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Page  148. (Personal Stories section).