I was just sitting here pondering what to write about on a Saturday afternoon, and what immediately came forward was, “Is Depression a Treatable Illness?” The answer is definitely YES! In this post I will be careful not to fool anyone into thinking that there is a quick fix, but I will tell you that there a numerous solutions to any one problem. I will give you a three step approach to this disease called Depression.
STEP ONE
1. First Identify, if possible, the root of the illness. Make sure that your provider helps you explore, if possible, where your emotional pain actually comes from-early on in treatment. It could be from 1) early childhood abandonment; 2) Relationship failures; 3) Family Discord; and or 4) Financial difficulty.
Early Childhood Abandonment:
Many people attempt to minimize a mother, father or both being absent from a child’s life; it just does NOT work. Day-in and day-out I see grandparents attempting to raise young men and women who have been abandoned by their primary parents. It is difficult to say the least. The children have attention-deficit issues, anger issues and of course conduct (acting-out) issues. Is this normal one may ask? In my opinion, yes. Issues of abandonment must be identified, processed and hopefully resolved before adolescence.
Relationship Failures
Most of us, if normal, have had a least a couple of relationship failures. Let’s be truthful. The importance of recognizing this is to process what the past issues were. Was is me, he or she? This is very important. Sometimes it is a mixture of all of the above. However, you can not hold yourself hostage to a past relationship. Freedom from pain can occur. You have to be willing to forgive your ex-lover and more importantly, yourself.
Family Discord
All of us have that one person in the family that stays in jail, constantly causes confusion or are just a pain in the A**! Let’s be real. Time and time again we have to bail them out or cover for them. Tyler Perry’ s last movie did a very good job exposing this issue. Sometimes the concept of “tough love” has to be instituted. No matter how badly you may want to help, you have to make a decision to step back and allow nature to take its natural course. Don’t let one person bring the entire family down. Usually the weakest link is responsible for the most confusion. Recognize this issue and move onward and upward.
Financial Difficulty
This one has a way of putting us all in a slump. Rather rich or poor, this can be a problem. Here is the thing;1) prepare a budget and stick to it. Live within your means. Do lunch as opposed to dinner and make that budget stretch. 2) Learn to just say “no!” If you can not afford it then leave it in the store. There is no use in piling-up bills on top of bills and then wandering how you will make it out at the end of the month and 3) Count your losses. Some relationships are just too expensive. Let the person move-on. You are getting into more and more debt trying to hold onto what is sinking you financially.
STEP TWO INTERVIEW AND THEN CHOOSE A PSYCHIATRIST
Don’t be afraid to get help. No one will make fun of you or make you feel bad. Most probably, after you begin to feel better, friends may ask how did you come out of the wilderness. Then there may be a need for medication management. Check-out WebMD before going to your doctor. You can narrow down which medicationss may or may not be good for you. However, we have a lot of success now with our medications.
STEP THREE: RELAPSE PREVENTION
Depression is a treatable disorder, but one may need 1-2 or 5 years of treatment. After all, people with high blood pressure get a lifetime of treatment. You are strong, not weak for getting help. Choose the demons that you want to fight. Don’t be afraid of depression, you can beat it.
For more insight into possible relationship issues, go to my e-book @http://amzn.to/AcFiO.
I hope this post was helpful. If so also leave a comment on the blog.
