Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. It affects how you feel, think and behave and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. More than just a bout of the blues, depression is not a weakness. You cannot simply ‘snap out’ of it.

One of the reasons you can’t just get over it, is that actual changes have happened in the neurochemistry of the brain. Your dopamine and serotonine levels have dropped severely. Depression may require long-term treatment. Although not uncommon to recover from depression with the help of psychotherapy (cognitive behavioural therapy books the best results), many clinically depressed people might have to combine this with medication (antidepressants prescribed and monitored by your physician or psychiatrist). But don’t get discouraged. Most people with depression feel better with psychotherapy, medication or both.

Other contributing factors are that a depressed person gets stuck in a vicious circle of negative thoughts and self-criticism. Let’s say your sister is looking for the perfect birthday present to cheer you up. One of your first thoughts is ‘she’ll never get it right’, followed by a whole train of thoughts in this vain: ‘she is lousy at picking presents and never gave me one I truly enjoyed’, ‘she always comes up with these preposterous plans, how does she think one silly present is going to cheer me up’, ‘she never understood me’, ‘I even doubt she cares about me’, ‘she is just doing this because she thinks that is what expected from her’, ‘she’s going through all this trouble, and it is not going to work’, ‘I will be a disappointment for her, like I’ve always been’, ‘I am so ungrateful for thinking like this’, ‘she shouldn’t spend her money on me, I am such a worthless being’, ‘she shouldn’t go to that much effort for me’… In this manner you go from something potentially positive (receiving a present from somebody who cares a lot about you) to a sure negative. Your brain has set you up for failure. Your negative thoughts have built a fortress. One token of love will have no effect. Your sister notices you don’t really appreciate her effort and retreats. She feels pushed away. This will confirm your negative thoughts that nobody really ‘cares for you or understands you’. This is a self-fulfilling prophecy. When you are depressed, you are unable to break this link of defective thoughts by yourself. Your thoughts are dragging you further down.

Add to that the lack of sound sleep, proper food and incessant ruminations, and you end up with a closed circuit of negative thoughts.

In psychotherapy you will learn how to stop these negative thoughts and replace them by positive ones, balancing out the pathways for positive and negative thoughts. Your MindBooster will slowly guide you, away from auto-destruction, to a place where you can learn to love yourself.

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