Depression Days

For someone suffering from depression it is very important to realise that you do not OWN your depression and neither does your depression own you.

Depression is an illness and needs to be treated as one.  An illness that can be treated and once you realise that it is just an illness and can be treated that is the first big step to recovery.

Don’t ever say to yourself that ‘you are depressed’.  Rephrase that statement and say that you feel depressed and not that you are depressed.  There is a big difference in saying you fell depressed to saying that you ARE depressed.  Saying you are depressed is saying that the illness owns you.  It is ok to feel depressed and everyone does so at some stage in their lives.

When you suffer from chronic depression it will feel like the illness does own you.  But on your road to recovery it is very important to know that this illness does not own you.  You are in charge of your life and you are in charge of your thoughts.

Depression is a result of your thoughts and can be triggered by a stressful event, this is called ‘Reactive Depression’.  This is completely normal to reactive depressed in certain situations.

However, sometimes these situations can be long term and lead to ‘Chronic Depression’.  If chronic depression continues for too long it can result in a change of the chemical balance in your brain which will then lead to ‘Endogenous Depression’.

The good news is that this chemical imbalance in your brain can be reversed.  It will take time but it can be done.

What causes the chemical imbalance in your brain?

People have both positive and negative receptors in their brain.  These receptors are fed by positive and negative chemicals that are present in your brain.  When you are depressed over a situation and that depression becomes long term, then you are only sending negative chemicals into your brain receptors.  Negative receptors can only receive negative chemicals and positive receptors can only receive positive chemicals.

So when your brain is only receiving negative chemicals or depressive chemicals then only the negative receptors are being fed.  So the negative receptors grow bigger and stronger and the positive receptors become stunted.

These receptors send chemicals into the body.  Negative receptors send out the chemicals that the body needs to deal with stress.  So because your positive receptors are stunted and the negative receptors are strong, you are continually receiving these chemicals associated with stress into your body.

It is a long process but the positive receptors can be restored or rebuilt.  To rebuild these positive receptors they need to receive positive chemicals or ‘dopamine’ – which are the bodies ‘uplifting’ chemicals.  For your brain to receive these uplifting chemicals you need to do a lot of positive thinking.  Positive thinking and happy thinking immediately sends positive chemicals into your brain and starts feeding the positive receptors.

Remember thought that these receptors are stunted and the negative receptors are big and strong, so the change will not happen overnight.  It will take time but with the effort and the will power to be positive and happy you can get the balance back to your brain chemicals.

Don’t let depression own you.  You own your body and you own your thoughts.  Creative positive thoughts, creative positive and constructive self talk, create positive anticipation and positively revisit old situations.

Take back your thoughts and take back your life.

Depression does not own you!