There's a story in the Bible about a man who has been crippled for a long time. Before Jesus heals him, he asks the man, "Do you want to get well?" Today I ask myself that question. I've so grasped onto this idea that I am now depressed that I'm not letting it go. I've so adjusted my thoughts to trying to do battle with this that I'm now focusing too much on it. I need to free myself from this and live as though it doesn't exist - as though it has no right to exist.
Susan gave a suggestion in her comment to my last post. She said, "My latest technique, brainswitching, also works for me. Whenever I think I'm feeling low, I don't use the word "depressed" and don't worry about being depressed. Rather I come up with a childhood word, for me it's Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, from the film Mary Poppins. It makes me smile and doesn't allow the brain kindling to happen."
I like your term "brain kindling", Susan. That is indeed what seems to have happened within me. And "brainswitching"... that is indeed what I need to do. I need to act as though I'm not depressed. I need to think I'm not depressed. I should not talk about being depressed. Instead I'm trying to color my world by making pictures.
I will try to accept God's healing touch and move forward.
By the way, please check out my new article on how Christians can support people with depression. It just went online yesterday.
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3 comments:
Hi Marja. I don't see a link to contact you and I don't seem to have your email since my PC crashed. I did however read some posts here. We can chat later and thankyou for taking the time to make posts. Twila
Marja,
Brainswitching is actually the name of a book by A.B. Curtis, a bipolar therapist who suffered from severe depression for many years. She's cured herself.
I found the book about six months ago and realized that I, too, was doing brainswitching to rid myself of depressions but in her book, she provides all the research and lots of exercises. You can link to her site from mine. It's called Depression is a Choice.
Her thesis, and one I agree with, is that when you start feeling twinges of depression, if you come up with a funny childish word, you can change the thoughts.
In the past, if I felt a depression on the horizon, I would panic and without realizing the impact, say to myself, "Oh, another depression is coming. I just can't do this again. I hope it doesn't ruin the holidays. I wonder what caused it etc. etc. etc., and it inevitably got worse."
It's more complex than that, but it's the first proactive approach I've read about.
Susan
Thanks, Susan. Brainswitching makes a lot of sense. I can see how, when we've experienced a lot of depression, our brain gets wired for it. We return to that mode too easily. We need to train our brain to follow a new pattern. I may get that book.
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