Overcoming Severe Depression Through Mindfulness and Meditation

For many people, the battle with depression is a long one in which we win far less than we lose. The feeling of hopelessness after we have taken control of caring for ourselves is probably the lowest we have ever felt. What have I done wrong? The question races and races day after day as nothing seems to improve for us, one day we feel okay and the next we are in bed unable to find the purpose in waking up. Many people change their medication, believing it to be the sole cause of ineffectiveness, and after two or more rounds of different antidepressants and not feeling any better, we are shattered.

There is too much importance placed on the role of prescription drugs in treatment for depression. Just as high cholesterol cannot be solved by medication alone, depression requires an active lifestyle and proper nutrition to get a hold on our health. Still, one link is missing; depression does not only affect the body, but also the mind. Drugs and nutrition are essential to our care, but the highest mountain we have to climb is that of learning to be in complete control of ourselves.

Still, some people respond very well to their first prescription. The claims of the percentage of people medication actually works for varies from 12 to 70 percent. This explains part of why so many of us go through periods where our depression seems suppressed and times when we feel just as down as before we began treatment or worse. Some people find refuge from their depression through endorphin-releasing practices like exercise and by consuming foods rich in calcium, zinc, folic acid and other nutrients that treat one of the five most common biochemical disorders found common to people with depression. Some speak to counselors once and discuss their problems and leave with what they have learned and thrive. Still others, those whom we envy the most and may not believe in the reality of our depression, are able to snap themselves out of it, deal with it, and move on.

The differences between people's healing processes are far and many because of an abundance of factors. Since individual causes are infinite it is nearly impossible for a counselor to pinpoint exactly what causes depression in an individual. Genetic predisposition, the amount of chemicals in the brain, psychological factors such as low self-esteem, early experiences, life experiences, medical conditions, alcohol, and drugs are all known to have a hand in depression. Any combination of these and others may have led to depression, so recovering is unique for every individual in what needs to be accomplished and how it can be done.

Over a year ago, I enrolled in an outpatient psychological program at a local hospital. One of the many therapists who held classes and activities during the week was Mary. Mary explained that a person's emotional state is affected by what goes in and what goes out. We are teacups, she said, with positives and negatives coming in and leaving. We are happy and productive when mostly positive energy is coming in, and we are able to give our excess to others. We are sad and angry when mostly negatives are filling us, and to rid ourselves of those negatives we pass them on to someone else. Naturally, we want only positive energy flowing to and from ourselves, but we cannot change what we do not have control over. Isolation is not the answer. Through isolation we reach a dead-end by shielding ourselves from many facets of positive energy and are inevitably subject to whatever negative energy we come across because we have no control over outside forces. This is where we are crippled, still bombarded with negativity and starving for more positivity than we can generate alone and this is where we begin to accept our hopelessness and captivity in a world of hurt.

Our experiences and how we handle them are what continually shape us as individuals, and we become unhappy through perceiving certain events as struggles, rather than maintaining an adequate level of happiness through understanding and acceptance of these events and living in the moment. Reconditioning a mind that has long been accustomed to providing an equal and opposite reaction to accept whatever comes your way is the hardest thing you will ever do, requiring constant readiness of the mind.

Marsha Linehan, Ph.D. developed Dialectical Behavior Therapy, a modified version of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, for individuals struggling with a "hard-wired" and vulnerable mind to intense emotions. The most essential of the DBT modules is mindfulness, getting into a state of mind called "wise mind" (between a rational and emotional state) in order to provide an effective method of thought for use in the other three modules of therapy. Thinking in the wise mind involves having a "Teflon mind" (likened to the non-stick Teflon coating of a cooking pan) or the ability to "see reality without delusions and accept reality...without judgment" (Lynch, Robins).

Every morning of a DBT session I took part in, each participant shared about the day before, what made them happy, what made them sad, which oppositions they faced with a wise mind and which they had trouble with, and where they had stumbled. This was one of the courses in which participants contributed with the highest energy; they were excited to see improvement and to be able to recognize failures and further stimulate attempts to reconstruct their minds as wise mind.

Having a Teflon mind is not ignorance. It is not heartlessness. Since emotions are reactions to perceptions, you must take things as they are. When something potentially harmful is in your path, you address it in a rational, observant, and in-the-moment mind to prevent "seeing red" or allowing anger or other emotions to take control of the situation. Take for example, a situation in the workplace. A co-worker makes a compliment as to a project you have been working on and another co-worker remarks in a tone that sounds sarcastic. The wise mind accepts what has been said, asks "How do I know if my co-worker meant to be sarcastic since I can't read minds?" and unable to resolve the answer, lets it slide off like Teflon. The co-worker blurts out an apology saying that he had a mint in his mouth and his statement came out sarcastic. The wise mind again accepts what has been said but is unable to determine whether this statement is true or not and lets it go. Later, you hear from other co-workers that his wife was admitted to the emergency room last night with a serious condition. Again, the wise mind accepts, evaluates, learns, and lets it go. If everything your co-worker said happened to be true and you assumed it false, you would have hurt yourself by taking his comment to heart and hurt him by accusing him of being rude to you. If his comments and even the statement about his wife had actually been false, you did not let that negativity in your teacup. A wise mind serves to bring logic and sensitivity to a serene state of mind in which we are able to make observations without making assumptions and form our perception of an incident.

It is obvious that someone with severe and reoccurring depression has a mind firm in its beliefs, some of which are detrimental to his well-being. A strong mind is an incredible thing to have and one will only know this fully when he has reached the peak, but during the climb it will seem to be his biggest curse. In order to become wise-minded one must not ignore negativity as the Teflon part may suggest, but learn to appreciate the positives and negatives in the world through tolerance and an eagerness to understand the nature of positivity and negativity, and then let the event go. One cannot immediately become wise-minded, nor is the reconditioning of the mind easy as our automatic reactions become replaced with new filters. I find that Deepak Chopra's "Ten Keys to Lasting Happiness" best outline the practices that I developed based on my own beliefs and what I believe to be the spiritual depth of the importance of having a wise mind. The keys to happiness work best if the individual has a strong belief in what he is doing; seeing the path to wise-mindedness as spiritual is helpful but not necessary.

Besides encountering situations as they come, there are a number of ways to practice mindfulness and being in the present. Meditation is a practice to strengthen mindfulness through clearing the mind and simply being in the present. Becoming familiar with this clarity will make it less difficult for your mind to think with a wise mind, as this state where the wise mind accepts, learns, and lets go. Mantras, prayers, and affirmations are sound or speech that encourage mindfulness in ourselves. Mantras can be scriptures, verses, or sayings that we have found to inspire the Teflon mind. We can place them in conspicuous places in our homes and automobiles as reminders for us to keep a wise mind throughout the day and we can repeat them in times we feel our ability to think with a wise mind is in danger. Symbols serve the same purpose and can be as simple as placing a smilie face on our alarm clock or carrying a rosary.

Having climbed this mountain of depression myself, gaining control of my mind and fighting perceptions behind and in front of me, the view is spectacular. I choose not to see my depression as a disease or affliction, but it is still a huge part of me. Increased sensitivity has led me to learn far more than I could have ever imagined knowing about myself and others. My climb has shaped me by instilling me with many traits: self-awareness and ability to protect myself from the harsh words and actions of others, compassion, a level of understanding others, and most importantly the insignificance in judging others. Having a wise mind does not only benefit those suffering from depression, everyone can achieve greater positivity and peace. Standing at the top of my long-cursed mountain, I see before me that I have more mountains to climb, plains to cross, valleys to make my way out of, and the elements sometimes working against me and I am filled with great joy knowing that have what I need to make the best of my journey for myself and for others.

Sources:

1. Please note: Two alternate sites where you can find the complete DBT Self Help Book and other information:
www.dbtselfhelp.com and en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Dialectical_Behavioral_Therapy.

2. Constantine Bitsas, "Nutrients and Depression: Food for Your Mood," Preiffer Treatment Center, www.hriptc.org/depression_article.pdf.

3. Deepak Chopra, "Ten Keys to Lasting Happiness," www.dreammanifesto.com/the-ten-keys-to-lasting-happiness.html.