Have you ever felt low in life? You are not alone. Me too, and like us most likely every other human being. Let’s talk a little bit about the painful truth about depression. It is by far the most common mental health condition that affects people everywhere around the world.
Whether it is feeling low, not being able to sleep, feeling withdrawn and isolated or not having energy or interest in life and activities, or lacking appetite, having suicidal thoughts and a general feeling of hopelessness, depression can be very challenging.
What is beyond medication and short term counselling?
Doctors sometimes prescribe you medication and counsellor or psychotherapists use talking therapies to help you reinstate a sense of wellbeing, but it is not always a straightforward process. The trouble is that if it is not dealt with appropriately it can have very negative consequences on your life also on your family, friends, work and social circles. Does this sound familiar to you?
Here’s what I’ve learned over the years being in this intimate space with people affected by low mood:
√ Medicine is only reducing the psychological arousal and offers a temporary false idea of improvement (not to mention of the significant side effects).
Also,
√ Surface counselling and therapy are mainly focused on symptoms and the desired outcomes and sadly fail on a long run.
The reason for this is that tackling the symptoms and encouraging you to feel positive and embrace other people’s ideas of what might make you feel better is an artificial process and it has therefore short lasting effect. Soon after stopping seeing a specialist you will be back to your old patterns of functioning and your low mood will return.
You have of course the option to keep reinforcing the new approach of thinking and behaving, but as long as they come from the outside, they will feel unnatural to you and can make you feel like you are faking life, like you are pretending your life experience is positive when inside you actually feel the opposite.
To make a significant change to your mood and functioning you will need guidance to search within yourself for the real cause of your suffering. I do this in my work routinely, teaching people explore their lives to find out what is underneath their feelings. I am in fact very passionate to inspire people to search for answers inside and not into the outer world so they can start a genuine life transformation.
My life and work experience have showed me that dealing with the cause of the depression is the only way to get permanent and life changing results. When you reach that stage to really understand your inner manifestations and their cause you will grow and develop on all levels of your being and you connect with whom you really are and what is really meaningful to you.
Believe this: You can transform your life
From there onward, knowing yourself and finding some clarity in life will help you manage your past and present conflicts, heal your inner wounds and start moving towards creating the life of your dreams.
Does this sound interesting to you? Let’s do some work then.
Here are 3 steps to start preparing for your journey:
Take a piece of paper or your mobile phone and start writing a new message, answering the following questions:
How are you feeling?
When did you start feeling like that and how it evolved?
What are the implications in your life?
What would you like to change?
How would like to feel in life if you could?
When you finish read it out loud. Observe your reaction and reflect on it.
When you are ready, make a plan to sort out your problem for good.
You have just started your journey back to wellbeing. Stay focused on your goals. You are close to transforming your life.