Depression and the vicious cycle of negative thinking
by Kelly-Johnson - February 5th, 2010Thanks for visiting my blog! If you like what you're reading, please sign up to receive New Blog Posts By Email. Or read more about us by Clicking Here. Thanks for Visiting!
More recently I have been working with a significant amount of depressed clients. There are several strategies that I give these clients when there trying to work through their depression. First thing to note is, depression is a cycle of negative thinking, negative beliefs, and then negative behaviors. People think they are depressed, then, they start to believe things like “I’m a failure”, ”I can’t do anything right”, or “No one likes me” Once these beliefs are believed it impacts the individuals behaviors. “Well if no one likes me, I’m not going to call any one” or “I’m not going out to the game, no one will miss me anyway.” As you can see this vicious cycle unfold, the more we think negative thoughts, the more we believe irrational beliefs, and then we behave in such a way that reinforces our belief system— SELF FULFIILING PROPHECY AT ITS BEST!!! The problem lies in the FACT that the beliefs we believe about ourselves are often FALSE. They are irrational beliefs or also called cognitive distortions.
So with ALL of this being said you can see their lies a huge problem, so how does the depressed person get help? A treatment plan must be created where they are changing their BEHAVIORS every day. In doing this the beliefs, and thoughts start to change as well. For the depressed person, they cannot choose what they will do or not do in a day because of their FEELINGS, feelings come and feelings go. They need to force themselves our out of the door. Here is a list of the top 5 things people can do to help them curve their depression. Please note, this does not substitute regular therapy. If you are interested in Aurora Depression therapy please contact the Colorado Center for Healing and Change.
1. Exercise EVERY DAY.
2. Take a multi-vitamin and eat at least 3 well balanced meals per day.
3. Pray/serve in your community- (through prayer and service we get outside of ourselves. Naturally with depression were focused on our selves, through these 2 acts we get outside of ourselves and think about others needs. When we do this we typically feel better about our own situations.
4. Journal your feelings and thoughts.
5. Establish healthy relationships and cultivate them regularly (daily!)
Share with me your successes and struggles, I want to hear them!
Be blessed.
Kelly Johnson

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