bert (1)
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Feeling depressed?
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A little.
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How bad?
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Mild.
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therapist (3)
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My energy is low.
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therapist (4)
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My appetite is off.
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therapist (5)
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I’m not sleeping well.
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therapist (6)
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I’m anxious.
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therapist (7)
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I’m irritable.
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therapist (8)
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My self-esteem is in the toilet.
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therapist (9)
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And I feel like crying.
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therapist (10)
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bert (11)
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Jeez, Bert.
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bert (12)
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That all sounds pretty painful.
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bert (13)
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If you call this “mild” depression…
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bert (14)
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…what’s “severe” look like?
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bert (15)
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Oh.
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October 30th, 2011 at 12:29 am
I so relate to the last paragragh saying something about “the things that help the most are the hardest to do” I have found depression painfull and when I am feeling depressed I cant do the things that are good for me so I get more depressed so I cant do the things that are good for me so I get more depressed, and so on and so on, thanks Bert,,,
October 30th, 2011 at 12:39 am
Yeah, same with me. Lowen writes somewhere that people think they get exhausted because they’re depressed, but actually it’s the other way around: depression is a symptom of exhaustion (which comes from depressing instead of expressing yourself emotionally). That’s why the first thing I do with depressed clients is to help them give themselves permission to get more rest. It’s not a fix, but it’s a start.
October 30th, 2011 at 8:18 am
This is weird because only last night I wrote a much less eloquent but almost identical description of myself in my life like the first guy Lowen explains. The only thing that keeps me going is the goal of getting through each day and keeping going until things get easier and then, sometimes I stop and look at my life from a distance and see no hope for things to ever be better and wonder why I am struggling this way.
October 30th, 2011 at 10:25 am
Because that’s what we do. There’s something stubborn in us that keeps us alive even when it doesn’t seem to make much sense. At such times I remember Samuel Beckett’s line — “I can’t go on, I’ll go on” — which for me has always summarized both the illogic and the courage of hope-despite-everything. A beautiful thing, I think. Hang in there.