Something that Helped Me

Dear Future Self,

Im sorry that youre going through a hard time. You probably dont want to keep going. You probably want to make yourself feel worse. You dont want to get better. You feel like youve gotten yourself so deep in a dark cave that youll never find your way out again, so you might as well not try. Youve been there before. Even though I know you think youll feel like this forever, youve gotten out of it before, and you can do it again. You see death as a way of escape and not existing as bliss because then you couldnt feel pain. The problem is, youre not the kind of person to give up. You dont want to give up, the depression does. Youre not trying to escape life, youre trying to escape the depression. All those thoughts I placed in your head at the beginning arent really your thoughts. Its not you that wants to make you feel worse, its your depression. Its not you that doesnt want to get better, its your depression.

Life is a battle between you and your depression. Right now the depressions winning, but theres still a battle. You are not your depression. Internalize that. All the bad things youre feeling right now arent your fault, its the illnesss fault. You are not your enemy, the depression is. I want you to picture the depression. A big, black monster thats strangling you almost to death and has taken control of most of your brain.

However, by the very fact that youre reading this letter now, its clear to me that the depression hasnt taken over all of your brain. Theres a little spot somewhere there that would like to have a happier life. A spot somewhere that would rather be happy than dead. That means that the battle between you and your depression isnt even nearly over, so dont give up prematurely. We both have a voice in our head that talks to us, but right now they say very different things. If the depression says to me, nothings ever going to get better, I respond with Ive already gotten a lot better, Im still getting better, and Ive seen many people fully recover from where I am now. Your inner voice, however, has been hijacked by the depression, so the depression controls it to say I know, lets die. What I need you to try to do is use that little hopeful spot in your brain to go regain control of your inner voice.

I want you to say to yourself:

You want to feel better.

You deserve to feel better.

You can feel better.

You dont have to feel like this forever.

Youre so brave for even trying to want to feel better.

Im so proud of you for everything youve gone through.

Say these phrases to yourself and think about them. Try to believe them. If you dont want to say them, consider this: If Im right, and it is your depression making you feel bad not you yourself, then this could help, even if feels silly right now. If Im wrong and it is you, then it simply wont have done anything. Theres nothing to lose, but it could help.

If there was any single flicker of hope after reading any of these statements, youre starting to find your actual inner voice again. Try to tell yourself things you like about yourself before you go to bed every night. Journal the positives, not only the negatives. Work on noticing when a negative thought comes into your head. When you can recognize these thoughts, try saying positive things to take away from the negative, and finally, try directly responding to the negative thoughts.

For sure, regaining control of your inner voice wont do everything. You wont feel instantly better. Im just trying to get you on the right side of the fight, and theres still be a battle ahead of you. You are incredibly powerful, and your willpower makes all the difference in winning the fight. To conclude, remember three things: you are not the depression, life is a battle between you and your depression, and go win over your inner voice.

Good luck,

Sarah

thank you for sharing this. this could be a great idea and motivator for someone.

I'm glad that other people find this in some way useful. I'd recommend to anyone who goes through rough patches in life to write a letter to themselves to read on a hard day. It feels so much more impactful when it comes from yourself because then it feels truer.

@brightForest97

I never thought about that. I never thought about doing that. I will keep that in mind.

Joining social group for any reason, for me i joined a group for learning new language...It helped me so much, I have to go out for 5 days a week , I met new lovely people and i tried to share with them my thoughts .

After 1 month we had out door aktivity like having a meal in chinese resturant...

it is really helpful

@brightForest97

Thank you for sharing. This is very helpful and I plan on writing a letter to myself.