If you have had any of these symptoms of depression long enough for them to effect your life adversely, you may be clinically depressed.
While I do not personally believe in reliance on anti-depressants long-term, I realize there are times when short-term use may be helpful, if monitored by a caring mental health professional. If you feel you may have more than just normal depression, and might be clinically depressed, please consider a mental health evaluation from a qualfied professional. more information about clinical depression...
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....What causes clinical depression?
Profile in Natural Wellness: Healing Emotional Wounds From Your Past
Question on alternative health care and emotional healing: I came across your site and I just had to ask this question. Depression is such a common phenomenon. There are some depressions that are mild to moderate, and others that are considered major and clinical. The type of depression I am referring to here is this latter - major clinical depression. What could cause this, and what can be done to help it or heal it?
Healing Facilitation Response: Clinical depression is a serious mental health challenge. This particular information about depression is from a spiritual and alternative healing perspective, though I may later write a follow up that addresses conventional treatment of depression.
As a spiritual healing and emotional wellness resource, nothing in this article should be construed as a substitution for any needed mental health care. Please consult with the proper healthcare professionals if you are dealing with depression. If you are already under treatment for depression, be certain you consult with your doctor before adding natural remedies to your healthcare regimen, to rule out drug and herb interactions, etc.
Also note that my approach to physical, emotional and mental challenges is includes spiritual components which may or may not not resonate with you. Do what is best for yourself, of course.
It is easier to say what depression is than what causes it. Let's start there.
What is depression?
When depression reaches levels that endanger the life of the person, either through suicidal thoughts or attempts or just depression to the point that the person can no longer carry out their day to day functions, it is called clinical depression.
In my spiritual awareness and from a spiritual perspective, depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain, caused by error thinking. Error thinking is any way of thinking, behaving or being that is not in alignment with your soul.
As a spiritual healing facilitator, I see the body as a geiger counter or diagnostic tool for us as spiritual beings. It registers imbalance to a minute degree and one of the ways it does this is by altering chemicals. This is a way the body sends an alarm to us, letting us know that our thinking, behaviors or belief systems are no longer serving us in some way.
What causes depression?
The cause of depression might be easy to pinpoint in a general way but what triggers a depressive mood, particularly to the point where a person is diagnosed with clinical depression, is harder to determine because it may stem from as far back as the formative years of childhood, those vital years between the ages of four and seven.In my experience as a wellness counselor, if a person suffers recurrent bouts of serious depression over time, it is well worth examining the events of those 4 years of their life. There may be emotional issues that have been triggered in some way and those may be coming up for healing.
If someone is clinically depressed for the first time in their life, then I'd look to the events of the past 2 years in particular. If there is some major change that has occurred in that time, I would definitely seek counsel on that issue to make sure there is nothing unresolved or unhealed in that situation.
What is the link between age and depression?
I'd also look at their age because one of the common symptoms of menopause is depression, due to hormonal changes within the body and also, I believe, due to the fact that a lot of women gain unwanted weight during menopause at the same time that their body is losing youthful tone. Add to this the other common occurrence from that time in a woman's life, total loss of sex drive or interest in sex, and no wonder women get depressed.Male Midlife Crisis: I believe men also go through a chemical and hormonal malstrom somewhere in their middle-age years and that this is the real reason behind the so-called "mid-life crisis". One day, I think doctors will treat men for this condition, as a medical condition and not just a phase they go through.
Is the above paragraph in conflict with my earlier assertion that depression is a chemical imbalance caused by error thinking? No.
What about Menopause and Depression?
I've also addressed the physical, of course. I've additionally taken steps to balance my body with natural progesterone but the biggest factor in my own well-being have been mental and emotional.
My personal battles with depression
The first of my dances with depression came when it was time for me to remember and heal childhood abuse that I had completely blocked out until I was 28 years old. I went through a terrible time of wanting to die, feeling totally devoid of joy, etc.
Apparently, I had so much inner resistance to remembering what had happened that I had to wear myself completely down, mentally, before I would allow remembrance. It took a tremendous amount of energy to fight remembering, which is why I always felt dead inside back then but I was unconsciousl terrified allow so much feeling, and begin the process of healing my badly wounded inner child.
I needed an incredibly strong wall of protection around me when I was young and it just hardened as I grew older. It was like literally breaking through a brick wall in my consciousness, to find the little one trapped within.
After I began to heal that sweet, innocent and beautiful part of myself, I looked back on my life up til then and realized I'd probably been depressed, to a lesser degree, ever since the abuse. It was logical. I had suppressed feelings about something traumatic. That had to affect me, mentally, all my life.
Another bout of deeply serious depression occurred when my spiritual marriage of seven years ended. I literally lay in bed for months, crying. I lost 30 pounds in 2 months and truly wanted to just die.
When I look back on that event, that was also resistance. I knew, early into that relationship, that we lived far too different types of lifestyles to ever make it but I lied to myself for years. Many people do. When I finally had to let go, it was devastating.
And recently, I had a third round of what I'd classify as clinical depression. This time, menopause played a big role but also, resistance again.
I resisted the fact that a dream I'd had all my life, of working in substantial roles as an actor, was not one I had the will to bring into manifestation. I did not want it badly enough to pay the price of living in Los Angeles, and living that life of auditions, rejections, and driving all day in monstrous traffic. Nothing there fed my soul, not even the work when I got it, because I was miserable living there.
I knew this dream was over when I went back to Los Angeles. I went back to Los Angeles twice, in fact, coming back home to Alabama in between very expensive trips to L.A..
Each time I returned to Hollywood, I tried to ignore how abrasive and unpleasant the energy was there, for me. The unending traffic, the smog, the desperation in the air from thousands of actors all wanting the same few roles. It was poison to my soul. So, after the second time back, I had to look at whether I wanted to poison myself, to obtain the other goal. It wasn't worth it.
But what do you do, after you let go of your last dream?
Additionally, in that same period of time, I realized that my work as a healing facilitator also had to change. The old ways no longer served but the new way was unclear. I had resistance to this as well. I had gotten very comfortable with the way I was working and didn't want to step into a new, unknown level of service. I'm still not through that discomfort but the depression it precipitated has lifted in time.
OK, I said all that to say this: If clinical depression is there and there is a desire to get to the spiritual root of it, look at what might be resisted. Resistance plays a part, I'm certain, if depression has progressed to the clinical depression diagnosis.
How do we work through our resistance, once we identify it? In my case, I do a lot of work in dreamtime. I ask for help before I go to sleep and get a lot of assistance while my conscious mind is out of the way.
I also practice conscious owning of what I feel. This means just being with it. If pain comes up, or anger, or hurt, I attempt to be conscious with it, own it as mine instead of instantly pushing it away, suppressing it or going into blame.
Something about that decision gives the memories room to come forward and the resistance to abate, or at least after practicing awareness for a while. Resistance is often a part of us asking for full attention. Once that attention is given to whatever we are feeling, it often becomes more clear WHY we are feeling it and what we can do about changing that without denying our feelings or suppressing them again. Help for Depression
Mental Health Disclaimer: Depression is a serious mental health challenge and anyone suspecting they may be clinically depressed should be evaluated by a mental health professional. The information contained in this alternative health care / emotional healing article on depression can never replace an in-person consultation with a mental health professional or mental health counselor. Any action taken based on the contents found in this educational healthcare information is at the sole discretion of the reader. Please consult with your chosen mental health professional regarding emotional struggles and mental health challenges.