Going To Extremes With Depression
It’s hard to have a “normal” day when you have depression. You are either having the best day ever or you’re having the worst day ever. One of the problems many people with any type of depression face is these swings in perception. With major depression, you tend to swing from horrible to terrible while with bipolar disorder, the swings are a little more dramatic. This extreme in perception can make people with depression not get any help for depression.
“What’s The Point?”
Because you feel so bad, you feel as if you are the only person in the world that has ever had depression as bad as you. You are positive that you’re a unique case that your doctor has never seen before and therefore will not be able to help you in any way, shape or form. So, what’s the point of trying to get any help if there’s no help out there to be had?
This viewpoint is nonsense, but not at the time when you are going through it. You are positive that you have been cursed with the worst life a human being could possibly have. If anyone urges you to go to a doctor or even take any medication the doctor prescribes, you are positive that they are wrong. This isn’t an arrogant feeling or a paranoid feeling. It’s a feeling so strong and so centered within yourself, just like the knowledge of whether you are standing up or not.
Spotting This Behavior
You do need to see your doctor if you have depression. You do need to take the medication prescribed. You also need to heed other advice such as getting regular exercise, getting regular sleep and learning non-chemical ways of dealing with stress such as with yoga, medication or watching the birdies fly by.
Medication can take a couple of weeks in order to make any noticeable change in your thoughts and perceptions. I remember when I first was prescribed fluoxetine (generic Prozac). I was really groggy for two weeks, and then things began to change. I also had a regular appetite for the first time in years.
While waiting for the medication to kick in, you can use your logic to spot extreme thinking. Every time you start to think, “Nobody can help me” or something like that, say, “Stop. That’s just the depression talking. I can be helped.”
For more inforamtion about spotting please check out Recovery, International’s website or the books of Dr. Abraham A. Low.
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