Posted by Wendy B. on June 9, 2001, at 13:20:00
In reply to Re: Can one think their way out of major depression? » Glenn Fagelson, posted by kazoo on June 9, 2001, at 2:08:43
> Do what I do, with great success: don't think about it.
>
> But in your case, if you question whether it's possible you can think yourself out of a major depression indicates to me that, perhaps, you feel you thought your way into one to begin with.
>
> So what you have to do is to back-track, or, as they say in the Geek-World, do a bit of "reverse engineering."
>
> Enter Dr. Freud: this is where I feel the need for psychoanalysis. Exposing the crap in the unconscious does wonders for the conscious. IMHO, the old boy was right after all, what can I say.
>
> (Which brings me to the off-topic subject of: does anyone believe that Sigmund might have had a hankering for Wilhelm Fliess? If so, did they exchange "Friendship" rings?)
>
> On a more serious plane, Glenn, you're over-doing it with this self-arm-chair analysis. I have run into people who actually gain a certain self-satisfaction from their depression and woes, and this is what sustains them to continue.
>
> As far as taking sleeping pills for extended periods of time: no big whoop. I've been doing it for 36 years and not once have I considered myself habituated. And I will continue to do so until the day I croak.
>
> This business about "self-love" and "God" is pablum. If you haven't been able to lick your depression after all these years and all the medication you must have taken, then learn to accept it, and gain from it. I know this must sound radical and unsound, but this is how I cope. And this is the only way I am able to cope. As I have said many times in many of my posts, my life is not a walk in the park either and it never was.
>
> If you enjoy talking to your current therapist, and gain from your sessions, then continue to do so, but bear in mind that what she's telling you (between the lines) is that she's at the end of her rope, too, so you may want to consider more dramatic approachs, as outlined above in various direct/indirect ways.
>
> There is one other thing that you must come to grips with: only you are the master of your own thoughts and destiny. Only you can control the way things are. When handed a lemon, make lemonade (with a sugar substitute, please). Unless you experience a major "Road-to-Damascus" epiphany, then expect to be the way you are for the rest of your life. Like it or not, it's very much there ... work with it, learn from it and deal with it.
>
> kazooGuys & girls,
Whoah! How come we're not all telling Glenn to RUN, not walk, away from a therapist who talks God, and who believes he can WILL away depression? Wow.
There's a difference between accepting the depression that life has dealt us, like bad cards in a card game. But please, don't give us the old "pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps" mentality. It just doesn't work like that.
Yes, you need to go to therapy and take your meds, and cope with life as best you can. But Glenn, don't beleve this therapist for a moment. You are not guilty, and not responsible for being saddled with depression. You never asked for this hell you've experienced, just the same as you never asked for brown eyes and curly dark hair (my therapist's wonderful analogy...)
Please find another therapist, Glenn!Wendy
poster:Wendy B.
thread:6363
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20010526/msgs/6372.html