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Old 10-05-2010, 12:26 PM   #4
atrophy
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: London

The very fact that you're depressed means that your thought process is not rational and the 'depressed view' of life might seem to be more realistic to you right now but that's because you're feeling depressed so, of course it will! Depression creates so, so many erroneous thoughts. Your thinking style right now is fundamentally different to how you were thinking before you were depressed and so the lady from the crisis team is perfectly right: you are not in the position to make such a huge decision, like ending your life, right now.

People who are depressed very rarely acknowledge a 'grey' situation - everything is black or white, right or wrong, and there's no middle ground. You will find yourself disqualifying anything positive - everything's wrong, everyone won't work out, there's nothing good about yourself or your life. You will resort to using your emotions as proof of how things are. Suddenly, you turn into a mind reader and a fortune teller; you know everyone thinks you're awful, and you know nothing is ever going to be okay. Mentally you filter out everything good in your life, and focus entirely on the bad. And your reaction to all of these things? Well, all it's going to do is make you feel worse. A huge part of recovering from depression is recognising these thoughts and learning to counter-act them with positivity, and impose a little bit more reality upon them to put them into a little bit more perspective. This is the basis for CBT therapy.

So, you proposed a couple of things - let's have a closer look.

"You realise the brevity and insignificance of your life."

I've no idea how old you are but you aren't at an age where you can make such a huge assumption. You have the whole world at your feet and you can do anything. You have the power to change the world, to make a difference to other peoples' lives. I'm sure, every now and again, Martin Luther King woke up and felt low; I bet he wondered what impact his life would have on the world. But look what he managed to do. Look what Obama has done. But it doesn't have to be something huge - the tiniest act, the smallest word, can make the world of difference to anyone, and that in itself means that your life has significance. You are important to your family, to your friends, and that means you have made an impact. No life passes by with no significance, no one is unimportant or forgotten. You are unique. You are special. And the moment you took a breath, you made a difference to the world. In this statement, you see depression taking it's toll like I explained before -- you've become a fortune teller, you've filtered everything positive and focus only on the negative.

So, I propose that these statements are not the reality all those who aren't depressed are missing but are thoughts created from a depressive, and irrational, mindset. And, in doing so, I hope I've made you think a little more about your own ability to perceive what is true and what is reality whilst you're depressed. You are not in a position to make a decision as to whether to end your life or not because you are depressed.

So, let's talk about why you're feeling depressed, what's brought you to this point and what is making you feel so strongly that your life isn't worth living. You may feel like you want to die, but you have to remember that this feeling is based on erroneous thoughts and in tackling those thoughts, and being able to shine a new perspective upon them, we can hopefully begin overcome those suicidal feelings.

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