Depression is one of the most common mental health issues, which can affect our mood in the form of sadness and disappointment. It is also characterised by an inability to focus and concentrate on whatsoever activity you are doing.
There is a loss of appetite resulting in weight loss or overeating, insomnia or oversleeping, feeling down with guilt and hopelessness, worthlessness, and helplessness. There is a decrease in interest of activity of daily living. For example, if you ask them to clean the house they might clean with leaving dust particles on the ground and there is a decrease in the productivity level, and feel exhausted very soon because there is a continuous dissipation of energy taking place for no apparent reason due to a lack of energy level. They get angry, irritated, restless, and short tempered. There is a tendency of committing suicide. They always think about death because of severe depression. All of these are happening because they are thinking too much in the form of worry and anxiety by living in the past or future.
There is no single cause for clinical depression, but it can develop at any point in time. Some people are more prone to it but symptoms can develop quite suddenly. It can also happen due to chemical changes in our brain cells. An episode of depression may also be triggered by a life event situation such as the death of family members, relationship problem, and prolonged illness. Sometimes it happens due to high-stress level. Women tend to develop depression more often than men during pregnancy, after childbirth, and menopause.
There is a chemical imbalance in the brain that arises from misfiring genes, lack of sunlight, and hypothyroidism. Antidepressant drugs may be necessary in these cases but meditation can be very helpful for depression as well whether the depression is situational (caused by external events) or organic (caused by chemical imbalances in the brain). Research has also shown that learning to meditate can dramatically reduce the chances of relapse into depression for those who have suffered repeated bouts.
There are many treatment options for depression. Antidepressant medicines are commonly used to treat moderate or severe depression. A medicine cannot heal you from inside. However, symptoms such as low mood, poor sleep, and poor concentration are often eased with an antidepressant. This allows you to function more normally and increase your ability to deal with any problems.
Meditation and cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) are other options. These involves working on thinking and behavioural patterns of life. As we know, we thousands of thoughts in a day – the bulk of them is useless, unproductive, and harmful.
Depression is a collection of negative thoughts and emotional energy inside in the form of worry, anxiety, and living in the past or future. Meditation teaches us that these thoughts are creating problems in our lives because it is useless and unproductive to judge or label your thoughts in any way. Just witness and observe your thoughts as they also teach us that we have to change the negative pattern of thinking into a positive pattern of thinking by creating a good environment around us.
We need to attend a workshop on motivation. We need to read good books or we must have positive friends and have a deep connection with nature like the ocean, mountain, water etc. It also teaches us how to avoid negative thoughts as well. In short, CBT helps people to achieve changes in the way they think, feel, and behave. The most important things that we have to explore and discover the interest of the person who is suffering from depression. If he has an interest in dancing, we would encourage him to dance. If a person likes creative work for examples painting, photography, and artwork we must support and available all resources for him.
Since we keep on collecting negative emotional thoughts, our energy are trapped inside in the form of depression, which need to be released into the universe through screaming, laughter therapy, crying therapy, tearing down, dancing, and singing activities. We could start making a group because everybody is suffering from the same problems so when we do these in a group we definitely can encourage each other.
Laughter is a high vibrational therapy in which we can keep on laughing from the heart and uplifting ourselves to feel good and there is a conversion of negative thought energy into positive energy taking place. It means the energy of depression can be transferred into the energy of joy because energy stays the same and it just changes into a different form.
Meditation means having a deep connection with nature. Hence, another activity is to go for a morning walk. As we know that the whole purpose of meditation is to live in this moment with a deep connection to nature. When we go for a morning walk we take fresh oxygenated air, which is full of high vibrational energy and it gives us tremendous energy and rejuvenates and refreshes our brain cells in order to dissolve useless and unwanted thoughts into powerful and productive thoughts. This ends end up to overcoming negative thought energy. It boosts our energy level.
Depression happens when keep on collecting energy of hatred, jealousy, fear, anxiety, worry etc. inside by living in the future or the past. But when you live in this moment with mindfulness then there is no memory, flashbacks, no past or future. Mindfulness teaches us to live here right now and experience whatsoever is going into this moment in order to get rid of negative thoughts energy.
Whenever depression happens let it happen with full intensity. Never fight with it, don’t create any diversion and force. Just allow it to happen; it will go by itself, wait for the moment and depression goes away. You have to just wait. Nothing lasts forever; the depression will go. Wait, be aware, be awake, and be alert. It is the same as if day changes naturally into night. But practically what happens when we get depressed, we can move into regression and again we get depressed which is not good, the first depression is fine and it is a natural process in every human. This is beautiful because it is not depression but it is an indication of happiness coming soon in the next moment. As soon as we get a second depression, it is worse because it gives birth to mental disorder in the form of regression. Regression happens when we keep on asking many questions inside. The second depression in the form of regression would confuse your mind and create delusion and you would miss the beautiful moment of first depression.
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Editor’s note: This article was originally published on San Teaching. Read the original article.
Sanjeev Kumar is a mindfulness practitioner, educator and author. His book Practicing the Power of Present Moment has been found to be helpful by many of his readers.
