Treatment of Depression Feelings Are Not Facts!
A real-world treatment of depression story. As smart as I am, I always use to argue from my feelings when interacting with my wife. One day she asked how I could come up with such a ridiculous position. I responded by saying, "Because I feel that way!" To which she said, "David, feelings are not facts!" Of course, all I wanted to do was choke her at the time for not respecting how I "felt," but later (maybe a couple of years later ;-) ) it began to sink in.
Finally I realized that I was passionate and I feel my feelings powerfully, no matter which feelings they are. Imagine my surprise when I began to notice that not everyone in the world responded to life like me! About the same time I also had the insight that my passionate reactions hurt those around me sometimes. And the other bad news was my wife had learned to tune me out and shut of her listening ears as if she'd turned off a switch. How do you think all this impacted my level of depression and anger?
My own treatment of depression from this particular angle took on an interesting twist. It worked beautifully and I still use it to this day. I simply began a journal. It was my "Normal Meter" journal. And each time I had a challenging experience I would write the experience down as exact as I could recall. Then I would make a line from 1 - 10 underneath the written story and rate what I believed to be a "normal" reaction, then rate my actual reaction. A "10", of course, was like raising the shingles up off the house, while a "1" was near coma.
By now you can guess where most of my early marks were on the continuum, right? Yup, they were mostly near "10's," but over time using this original treatment of depression technique I was able to make great strides in my reactions, which changed how other individuals reacted to me, which in turn helped with my depression. When I was more than two points off what I considered a normal and decent reaction I would go to that person and apologize for overreacting. Woa, that took some commitment and guts. But I did it! And, believe me, it got easier. People respected me more, mostly my wife (the one that really counts!) and better yet, I respected me more.
You see, treatment of depression can be very unique to the individual, although what I created I know will work for you if you are an over reactor because I've taught this treatment of depression strategy to many clients who've used it successfully. This treatment of depression strategy also falls under a form of cognitive therapy, one of the proven ones that really work in the battle against depression.
Take advantage of my other creative interventions I've designed to help you cope with depression. Together, we will create a treatment of depression that will work for you. I guarantee my clients will improve or I pay them back. Can you believe that!? It's true.
Dave Turo-Shields, ACSW, LCSW |