I Beat Depression – By Not Talking About It
This might seem like a counter-intuitive way to combat depression but stay
with me.
Napoleon Hill once said, “Thoughts are things and powerful
things at that.” Powerful and mighty is the human mind! It can build as well
as destroy.
By Kevin Cahill
A year ago, while drowning in a sea of confusion and fear I wrote this sentence “Being at the end of my rope, I have nowhere else to turn… If it wasn’t for my son I would commit suicide to end the pain.”
It was at that moment I found a story about Doctor Thurman Fleet from the 1930s, who was involved in the healing arts. Dr. Fleet realized that he and others in his profession were falling far short of doing the job that needed to be done. He said that they were treating symptoms and not treating the cause of the problems mainly since no one had ever seen the mind.
Don’t forget to check out this collection of insightful depression quotes for more inspiration.
Depression and the human mind
Every human mind works in the same manner, although the mind works on many levels. Each mind is programmed genetically and environmentally and imprinted differently.
Dr. Fleet drew out a stick figure and said that we only need to understand the mind from two levels: the conscious and the subconscious. He stated the body is an instrument of the mind and it obeys the operations of the mind.
The conscious mind is the thinking mind, the educated mind. Conversely, the subconscious mind is the emotional mind. It is what is going on in the emotional mind that determines the behavior, or the actions the body is involved in.
The conscious mind gathers information from the outside world through the five sensory factors: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.
Unfortunately, most people live through their senses. Our conditions, circumstances, and environment have no bearing on what will happen in our future unless we let them.
The conscious mind is your thinking mind, where we gather information. It is not the part that controls the actions of the body. The conscious mind thinks.
Then the subconscious mind, your feeling mind, executes what is impressed upon it. It expresses itself through the body. If you want to change what you are doing or feeling, you have to understand what is causing you to act a certain way.
The power of our thoughts
James Allen, author of ‘As A Man Thinketh‘ wrote, “Mind is the master power that moulds and makes, and man is mind, and evermore he takes the tool of thought, and, shaping what he wills, brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills. He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass: Environment is but his looking-glass.”
Just so, our environment has made certain situations in history worse. During the 1918 flu epidemic, the mayor of New York City took drastic steps. He felt it was imperative to check the damage people were doing themselves through their inherent fear of ill health.
He called in the newspaper men and said to them, “Gentlemen, I feel it necessary to ask you not to publish any scare headlines concerning the flu epidemic.
Unless you cooperate with me, we will have a situation which we cannot control.” The newspapers quit publishing stories about the flu and within one month, the epidemic had been successfully checked.
After the lethal second wave of the flu struck in late 1918, new cases dropped abruptly—almost to nothing after the peak in the second wave. In Philadelphia, for example, 4,597 people died in the week ending October 16th, 1918, but by November 11th influenza had almost disappeared from the city.
There is overwhelming evidence that disease sometimes begins as a negative thought impulse. Such an impulse may be passed from one mind to another, by suggestion, or created by an individual in his own mind.
In 2005 Mike Wallace interviewed Morgan Freeman in aboard his boat. The interview gets heated over Black History Month and the response is riveting. Mike asks him point-blank, “How can we get rid of racism?” to which Morgan replies “Stop talking about it.”
Depression is a symptom
Bob Proctor is a consultant, author, lecturer, and motivational speaker. He has been at the forefront of personal development for decades. Proctor has claimed that depression is nothing more than suppressed anxiety caused by a fearful subconscious mind.
Depression is the symptom, but until we treat the primary cause, there will never be permanent change. The cause of depression is having a conscious mind being filled with worry and doubt through the five senses.
The opposite of depression is acceleration. Simply, this means it expresses well-being caused by having a faithful subconscious mind brought on by understanding and knowledge in the conscious mind.
Similarly, the more I’ve experienced and explored my own feelings, the more I’ve realized how necessary these feelings are. It’s good for us to explore unknowns. It gives us an opportunity to discover who we really are and what life is all about.
The mindful way through depression: Zindel Segal at TEDxUTSC
Now, this path might not work for everyone. If you have severe depression, look into finding a therapist or psychiatrist near you. However, if there is a part of you that thinks constantly focusing on being depressed is making it worse, then give this a shot.
Also, you can work on doing things that are proven to help with depression that doesn’t involve talking about it. Getting out in nature every day is a wonderful example. Go for a walk, take a bike ride, or just sit outside in the grass.
Another thing that might help is engaging in creative activities like writing or drawing. Keeping a gratitude journal is an excellent way to keep the positive things in your life at the forefront of your brain.