Dont Cop Out, Get Up. Get Going

I read an article on Depression years back. When I was in the blue of my life, sitting alone and watching bare wall one day this article just flashed in my mind and today I just felt like sharing it with all of you. There is nothing more depressing than having it all and still feeling sad. Depression is the first reaction of sorrow, failure, loss, etc. Failure of any kind leads to depression which is quite unavoidable for even the toughest lot. Only the one who goes thorough that phase of life can feel the actual pain and anger. 

We all think that maybe one day it will be ok again. That's all we want. We don't care what it takes. We just want to be ok again, and for that the trick lies in trying to learn how to keep walking, even after having being hit.

Depression is no longer seen as a weakness of moral fibre, something to be stigmatised or ashamed of, but as a medical condition, an imbalance in the body's chemistry, which can be treated but, paradoxically, even as the disease has been diagnosed and antidotes devised, its prevalence seems to have increased. Students who do badly at exams are suicidally susceptible to it, as are star-crossed lovers, or those who suffer reversals of fortune in business or other pursuits. It is as though by identifying the affliction and prescribing remedial measures- from medication to meditation, and various therapies in between. It is a syndrome with a  Morbid fascination which means "The more we think of depression, the more depressed we get."

Anti-depressants like lithium- morphine for the soul -are a help. But they create their own dependency which itself is a depressing thought. May be what we call depression, and learning how to cope with it, is integral to this messy business called life.

 To get over with it, the best way is to stop sitting there frowsting and feeling sorry for yourself. Guys..... shake off those mental cobwebs. Get up and do something. Have a cold shower. Take up bridge, become a do gooder, have an affair, go on a trip. Anything, just.... just do it. But suppose that was the problem: that doing something, anything, was precisely what you didn't want to, couldn't make yourself want to do? Suppose what you suffered from ,was a total paralysis of the spirit, which is what severe depression is? What do you do then? Better try Logotherapy. Its central thesis is Human beings represent a constant quest for meaning- once you find a WHY, the HOW follows of itself. Find a meaning for your life - and if you can't find a meaning, adopt one, invent one, steal one- and you'll be able to live it, no matter how adverse the conditions. Instead of lessening the burden on yourself increase the load of responsibility.

May be logotherapy has a tip for all of us: when you are feeling down, instead of a dose of Valium, try a bit of Valour.