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Old 12-04-2006, 06:24 PM   #7 (permalink)
AndyMartin
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hazerfazer--

Try to start noticing the thought patterns that get you into a depressive or anxious state. There's a mental feedback loop that occurs in a downward spiral with depression and anxiety (which are really degrees of the same experience). Cognitive behavioral therapy can be very effective in helping you identify those patterns if you cannot do so on your own; it will also teach you ways to neutralize them. Don't be ashamed to ask for this kind of help.

Another way to accomplish the same thing is to learn meditation; specifically meditation to silence the mind. Guided imagery and such won't do the trick. This will teach you to observe your thoughts and to understand how they arise. The great thing about this is, once you learn it, you can use it to arrest depressive states as they are coming on any time, any place. It will also teach you to separate the experience from your sense of identity, which is a very important part of overcoming depression. When we associate our identity with those emotional states, they become very difficult to give up.

The thing you have to remember is that patterns of thinking are habituated, and at some point they have to change if your normal state is to change. Changing them now is going to be much easier than changing them fifteen years from now. Believe me.

Good luck!
Andy
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