Personify Your Depression: If my depression were a person... [fill in the blank]
Personify Your Depression: I learned about this coping technique today. Imagine that your depression is a person separate from you. The idea is that personifying our depression helps remind us that depression doesn't define who we are ourselves, and that invasive self-critical thoughts we experience often come from our depression and not our healthy minds. Some things to think about are: what kind of person would it be, what kind of hobbies would it have, what would it look like, what would its name be?
So, if your depression were a person, what kind of person would it be?
My depression is a middle aged man with thinning hair, wearing a dull brown suit. He stands over me telling me how terrible and pathetic I am but he does so in a monotonous and quiet voice so it doesn't really sound mean. He grinds me down with his negativity and often brings up insignificant things and makes me feel bad about them. On some days he sucks out all my energy and motivation. On some days he is the only one that speaks to me. I hate him intensely but he reflects that hate back onto myself.
Mine would be Anabelle.
My depression is the best people in my life, circling my head, telling me I can never be like them, never be good enough, no matter how I try. My successes are poppies in the pure dry grass fields, stretching for miles, of failure. They are nothing. Unless I am good enough, I might as well be nothing.
My Depression would be the Men who raped me and harass me and a pitbull who bit my stomach. Also being taken as a child to a different location that I did not understand. I know people I have had a bunch of crap. Including last 2 year Husband and I in a death cult including death of a child OD. So heavy......... On the other hand I try to be positive and enjoy life. It is a hard dichotomy.
Mine is like a friend that is hurting me in a calm loving way that it takes me forever to see what is happening. I am confused I think they are trying to help me but they are not helping me they are killing me and I don't know what to do about it some days.
Depression would be just another face in the crowd, an aquaintance that always runs into you by happenstance and always ends up saying just the right things to make the world a bit more desaturated and makes things feel pointless. It wouldn't be a particular person, just another human.
my depression would be a little monster who looks small and cute and fluffy, but when you aren't paying attention he grows to be huge and unmanageable and scary.
If my depression were a person, they'd be one of my closest friends. Some may say the friendship is toxic, since it hurts me. But I like to know everything about the things around me, so it took a lot of pain to get into this "eye of the hurricane" kind of moment with this friend of mine. We'd be the two people who'd lay down outside at midnight in the middle of a grassy field to share our philosophies and point out constellations.
My depression is kind of a like journalist.
They follow me around with an enormous camera and film all my worst moments. Doesn't matter if I did something amazing that day, they'll overexagerate the story and make me out to be the bad guy by the end of the day.
I live my life in constant fear. I don't do any of the things I enjoy anymore, because I know they're watching me, waiting for me to screw up. I don't want my friends and family to end up hating me when another fake article is published.
@7cMitch
Well said. I can relate. However, I don't think all journalists are bad.
@7cMitch feel same...hopefully will overcome this fear
Kurt cobain. Saying nothing else.
