Depression Guide Lesson 1: Understanding and Overcoming Depression
This marks the first post in our new continuing education series! We plan to work through one lesson a week to better learn how to help our members. I'm a big believer in learning by doing. As humans, we are naturally interested in ourselves; if we can learn something and apply it to our lives, then we have a much better chance of remembering it, then if we learn it without applying it to our lives.
If you are interested in participating, then please read the intro to depression section and lesson 1. Let's start by talking about the symptoms of depression.
1. What stands out to you about the different symptoms and how they impact different parts of ourselves (cognitive, emotional, physical, and behavioral)?
2. Why do you think symptom tracking would be a good idea? i.e., why would it make sense for me to do that symptom inventory on a daily basis over a 2 week period?
3. If you were to paint a word picture of how depression feels to you, how would you describe it?
What are other thoughts you have on depression?
Agressive*
Tracking is CRITICAL! It lets you know your behavior,moods,physical symptoms and emotional symptoms over a period of time and how it is fluctuating you can see what is getting worse and what is getting better it also shows you your depression signs and of suicidal thoughts I would highly recommendtracking your depression it really does help you and your doctor see what is happening.
When I think of depression I think of being stuck in a black bubble that won't pop and you can't do anything about it I picture people trying to pop the bubble to get you out but it won't pop I picture people trying to talk to you through this bubble but it sounds kind of weird like you can't hear them and I think being in a bubble you must feel awful and you won't be able to get a 'good view' of the world being stuck in this bubble.
*please note these are just some of the symptoms and signs of depression and there are many more. Please always contact your doctor if you feel your depression is not improving or getting worse. THEY CAN HELP
The picture of the two brain scans right next to each other (one of the healthy brain & one of the depressed brain) are very poignant. From these images, it is clear to see how depression can have such a powerful impact on us.
1) For me the physical symptoms stick out the most. It makes me think about how you could be experiencing one of the physical symptoms of depression but not still fully recognize that the culprit is depression.
2) It is incredible to me how complex of a disease depression is and how it effects each person so differently, in that way it can be a very personal disease. This is why symptom tracking seems like an excellent idea, it allows youto identify commonalities of depression among varying people and put a formal name on symptoms. Additionally, if you are able to track your symptoms over time, you can pick up on important trends, which may give you further insight into how to best treat and work through your depression.
Great questions! I am going to try keep my answers as short as possible because this can go real in depth!
1) when you have your depression your brain chemicals change and become unbalanced causing depression.you normally become ( symptoms vary) sleepy,fatigue, anxious, you feel guilty,hopeless,sad and numb and so many more! You can also gain or loose weight. Your bahaivours may include irritability, pulling away from friendships, loss in interests you used to enjoy, wanting to be alone,short tempered andagressive
Excellent points all around. As Graygazeindicated, we are all different so our expressions of depression will differ as well. Some of us may express it more physically or emotionally, whereas others might feel more interpersonally withdrawn. Overall, Robyn said it well, it does feel like a narrowing of focus or a closing in or shutting down.
I think in general symptom tracking is a good idea because when you are depressed it often causes black and white thinking or dichotomous thinking. It can feel like "I'm COMPLETELY depressed ALL the time" when really it might be that I'm partly depressed some of the time. Tracking symptoms helps you see that it might not be as bad as it might seem.
Beyond symptom tracking, I think it can also be good to look at the following:
Precipitant - what started the symptoms? when did they begin?
Severity - on a scale of 1-10 (w/10 being bad) how are they?
Finally, I really like all the different analogies you shared. Analogies or metaphors can be powerful b/c they help give you emotinal language to capture something.
Any other thoughts on this first lesson?
One thing that I learnt about depression recently is that it's different for everyone and there is no way to measure it - how I experience emotions and how others experience emotions (as well as thereintensity) can be two different things. This is important when conversing with others. Even though it may not appear to be a big deal, it could be a big deal to them and we have to be sensitive to that fact. Otherwise, their true emotions would left unheard and it can get even more frustrating. That being said,I think the saying "get over it" could be one of the most harmful phrases out there. Here is a youtube video I found before and ithelped me understand how to connect topeoplemore:
The Power of Empathy -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw
I really love your analogies Heather
1. When I read through the different symptoms, it's thesense of closing in and shutting down,on every level, that stands out to me.
2. Symptom tracking might be a useful tool as it couldhelp to pin point any patterns or particular triggers for your moods. It could also be useful as a way to step back and look at it more objectively. Sometimes you can be depressed and not realise what you're struggling with is depression, so perhaps if you are writing down all the different symptoms it could help you to see symptoms of anillness that can be managed and treated,rather than aspects of who you are.
3. Depression can feel like trying tomove through mud. Everything becomes so difficult and so exhausting and there's no way out of it. Or another way of looking at it could be like sinking in quick sand and the harder you try to get out, the moreyou sink back in.
The metaphor I use is that it feels like everyone is living in a world of color but you're just living in black and white.
Great insights! Love the bubble metaphor! Can anyone else relate to that metaphor or maybe has a different word picture to capture depression? I like to see it as a shaded glasses that make everything look gray or less hopeful. Problem is that we are often not aware that we are in the bubble or wearing glasses.
