Depression is just a word we use to replace
the real fact of being mentally lazy. We may be active and strong in our daily
activities but our mind seems empty or numb. Emotions of course, play an
important role in the way we feel every day. I strongly believe, if hormones
control our emotions, our emotions can control them. It sounds cliché but my
own personal experience has made me believe that no matter how miserable you
feel, you can always have certain amount of control over your state of mind.
Before I go to the scientific explanation
of how depression affects our efficiency, I want you to think about what really
makes you depressed. What kind of thoughts, tensions or worries make you feel
low and incapable?
Now, think whether these thoughts are
directly the reason for your depression or is it something you associate with
these thoughts. Most of the times, it is not that one thought that makes us
depressed but a number of associations that lead us deep within our
subconscious mind and activate some emotions from the past. Being aware of your
thoughts is the first step to gaining any kind of minimum control over your
state of mind.
Now, think whether these thoughts are
directly the reason for your depression or is it something you associate with
these thoughts. Most of the times, it is not that one thought that makes us
depressed but a number of associations that lead us deep within our
subconscious mind and activate some emotions from the past. Being aware of your
thoughts is the first step to gaining any kind of minimum control over your
state of mind.
If she is aware of this thought and right
after she witnesses this, she distracts herself by shopping or having an ice
cream, she is attributing a positive state of mind to the incident. This forms
a link between the incident and the state of mind. She may not feel the same
way about a bike accident anymore. She might now be able to stay calm whenever
she witnesses a bike accident in future.
If she would have stopped, watched and
thought more about the accident, it might have made her feel anxious or
terrified.
Our actions play an important role. Actions
lead to thoughts, body feelings and emotions. These three are linked to States
of mind.
Another question that arises is about the
inefficiency in daily chores in a depressed state. Most often when we are
depressed, we don’t feel like eating, dressing up or anything that is basic for
us in a relatively healthy state of mind. Feels like there is no strength or
will within us to do anything.
The real cause for this is that when we
think, some neurons are activated and that’s how the thoughts function. But
when we think about a certain thing constantly, our neurons pass this message
to other neurons and the message spreads. Thinking intensely about a situation
causes al the brain neurons to participate in just one activity. This leads to
a conflict in our mind. The sub-conscious mind is trained to carry out some
chores daily while all then neurons which are supposed to send the signals for
carrying out those chores are busy stressing on this One thought that is
bothering us. The conflict continues as we avoid ignore our sub conscious signals
for completion of daily tasks. By doing this we just train our mind to
avoid the messages of the sub-conscious mind and this is how we unknowingly
re-program it to drift away from the normal program.
I hope this has helped you to understand the basic mechanisms of depression.
In my next article I will explain how we can avoid conflicting principles that cause depression.
Stay tuned for some more knowledge on Positive living!
- The Positive Man
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