The Nature of Depression
Freud said that depression was anger turned inward. Others however, have taken this idea further, suggesting that depression results from long-term efforts to repress and/or suppress all types of painful feelings such as: disappointment, frustration, sadness, and grief. People may be reluctant to acknowledge such feelings for a variety of reasons. One individual for example, may fear that permitting painful feelings to surface will be overwhelming, while another person might be afraid to acknowledge painful feelings because they remind him or her of difficult childhood experiences when these emotions were first experienced. While it certainly is understandable that people wish to avoid emotional pain, this wish is not grounded in reality; life can be painful and is so for everyone at one time or another. Furthermore, what many individuals do not realize is that it is much easier to process and move beyond feelings of anger, disappointment, frustration, sadness, and grief, than feelings of depression. Because depression by its nature masks the feelings and issues which preceded it, time is necessary to uncover them. Depression also typically reduces a person’s level of energy and motivation to address his or her feelings and the issues from which they stem. Therefore, as a preventative health measure, people will always fare better if they permit themselves to experience all types of feelings.
So what can you do if you are already grappling with depression? First, please do not try to force yourself out of feeling depressed. You will use up valuable energy that might be better used for healing and you may feel more demoralized if you don’t succeed in quickly changing your mood. Second, realize that, for now, this is part of your process. This will reduce some of the pressure and guilt you may feel. Do what you can and go easy on yourself if you don’t accomplish everything you would like or have done in the past. Third, permit those painful feelings you have been avoiding to come up. These are your feelings and need to be given their due.
Feelings of depression are finite. They will not last forever. If you accept them while they occur, the process will be easier to traverse and once the depression has lifted, you can help prevent a recurrence by compassionately accepting all of your feelings. However, a final note: If you are experiencing serious problems with sleeping and eating, having thoughts of suicide, and/or your daily functioning is significantly impaired, please contact a mental health professional or physician for an assessment immediately.
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