Beat Depression

By David M. Hinds

This very supportive book, by an author who has suffered from depression and come through it, will really make a difference. It goes straight to the source of the condition, moving the reader step-by-step from hopelessness to relief and happiness. What's happening when you're depressed? Why me? Step-by-step strategies to heal your mind. Self-help therapies that will serve you for a lifetime. Refashion your brain and learn the art of enjoying life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blue Poppy Publishing
• Release date: Sep 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781837780068

Book preview

Introduction

This book is for people who are depressed. It is written from the depressed person’s point of view but provides insights and information for carers, friends and relatives of the depressed.

Depression has surged to epidemic proportions in just two decades, from rarely mentioned misery at the margins of society to a newsworthy phenomenon. It starts, innocently enough, as sadness but, without effective coping skills—which are the very heart of this book—can rapidly deteriorate into clinical depression. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that more than 300 million people globally have depression at any one time.

As I pen this updated 2022 Blue Poppy edition, Sky News reported today, 11th August, that the UK July 2022 National Health Service (NHS) Accident and Emergency response times in England were the worst on record, with patients waiting more than 12 hours to be admitted and the lowest proportion of people being seen within four hours.

July 2022 was also the joint worst month for response times by ambulances dealing with the most urgent incidents, new figures from NHS England show.

For the increasing number of depressed people who – in abject desperation – attempt suicide (and are lucky enough to fail in their attempt) these totally unacceptable emergency admission times are increasingly likely to seal their fate.

Let’s assume you are depressed and in need of help. I have been where you are now. What you need is release: release from your all-consuming feelings of misery, hopelessness and isolation. You have just picked up or downloaded the book that is going to make this happen for you. Life is going to get better and you are going to have peace of mind.

Chapter One invites you to take the first step towards recognising, identifying and gaining release from your condition. One tick in the appropriate box is all I ask of you to get started. No matter how depressed you are right now, you can do it. This book will have proved its worth when you are recovered and enjoying life to the full.

—David M Hinds

Plymouth, 2nd February 2022

Part One

Depressed

1

You are not alone

I have been where you are now.

I will write for you and

you will read for me.

Today is the day we get started.

Depression, like the common cold, is an illness that can affect anyone, including the rich and famous. One in five of us will be affected by the condition at some stage in our lives. Like most other illnesses, when correctly diagnosed, it can be treated successfully. Depression, although frightening, is never permanent. It does not reduce our value as human beings. Are you depressed? If so, how depressed? Let’s begin to find out.

In order to ascertain the best and safest way forward, you must decide how depressed you are on a scale of 0-5. Your choice should reflect how you have been feeling generally over the last two or three weeks. Don’t worry if your selection is not quite right. Give yourself permission to adopt a trial and error approach. We can always put things right later when we understand more about your prevailing mood, your circumstances, your feelings, your psychological make-up and the overall structure of your thinking patterns. Please go ahead now and tick the box below that seems most applicable to you

0) NOT DEPRESSED

1) MILDLY DEPRESSED

2) MODERATELY DEPRESSED

3) SEVERELY DEPRESSED

4) EXTREMES OF HIGHS AND LOWS

5) SUICIDAL

It may be that you will revise your choice later but this is a valuable starting point. If you have ticked (0) above, perhaps you are a loved one, family member, caring friend or professional acquaintance of someone whom you believe may be suffering from depression. If this is the case, it is probable you will read this book in a different way from a depressed person. You will be in a position to heighten your awareness and gain valuable insights into this much-misunderstood condition.

If you have ticked (1) to (5) let me begin by reassuring you. Due to a new generation of therapies and the widespread availability of non-addictive and highly effective drugs, the chances of recovering from depression quickly and safely have greatly increased. Your degree of depression will be dealt with in succeeding chapters.

Depression is best understood by observing its effects. The most obvious sign of depression is a persistent downturn in mood. Depression has a way of creeping up on you and dulling your feelings. You begin to lose interest in what is going on around you. You may feel sad, alone and isolated and cry for no apparent reason. You may assume a vacant, emotionless facial expression and you may feel guilty about things which happened in the past. Sometimes, with a different form of depression, feelings of sadness can alternate with sensations of elation or excitement but this may be a mask for unhappiness.

In everyday language, we have a tendency to speak of feeling depressed when our transitory downturn in mood simply relates to a routine or minor setback—perhaps the prospect of returning to work on Monday morning after a particularly enjoyable weekend. On the other hand, depression as an illness implies a severe emotional disturbance, the source of which may or may not be traceable to external causes.

We all feel down from time to time. Sadness is a normal part of life. Happiness would hold little meaning for us if we were untouched by sadness. But when sadness takes an almost permanent hold of us and seldom returns to joy, the likely cause is clinical depression, also known as major depression.

No one is immune from depression. It strikes people from all social groups, all countries and all cultural backgrounds. A staggering 300 million people are affected in the world today!

The death toll from depression is formidable: more people commit suicide every year than die in road accidents around the world. Statistically, at least 10 per cent of the clinically depressed (whether diagnosed as such or not) will take their own lives. The impact of that one, irreversible action on their families, friends and loved ones will be enormous.

Let’s make further progress by examining where you are right now. It will be illuminating and helpful if you tick the boxes alongside any of the following statements that you believe are applicable to you. Once again, don’t be afraid of making mistakes and bear in mind that your choice should once again reflect how you have been feeling over the last two or three weeks. It is a general picture of your state of mind that we are forming here, not a medical diagnosis.

Most of the time, do you*

feel sad?

feel helpless?

feel tired?

feel guilty about things?

feel life is pointless?

feel as if you are moving in slow motion?

feel anxious or cry a lot?

feel pessimistic or worthless?

have difficulty concentrating?

have difficulty making decisions?

Lately, have you*

isolated yourself from others? Or wanted to?

lost interest in things that used to give you pleasure?

experienced problems at work, in school, at university or away from home?

experienced problems at home?

experienced actual personal or professional abuse?

experienced abuse on your social networks?

lost your sex drive?

lost your appetite? Or gained weight?

felt restless and irritable?

experienced persistent headaches, stomach or back aches, muscle or joint pains?

had difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or getting up in the morning?

consumed more alcohol than usual?

taken more mood-altering substances than usual?

engaged in risky behaviour?

engaged in self-harm?

Lately, have you been thinking about*

death?

your funeral?

committing suicide?

The exercise you have just completed can have the effect of helping to distinguish between depression and normal feelings of being ‘under the weather’.

If you have ticked four or more boxes in total, the indications are that you may well be depressed. Have you been to the doctor? To avoid unnecessary suffering and disruption to your life, I believe you should consult your doctor for a professional diagnosis and opinion. Without a shadow of doubt, if you ticked any of the final six boxes, you should make an urgent appointment, seek help (not on the Internet) and keep on reading.

You know from your participation in the self-screening test what is likely to be the matter with you. Ten minutes with your GP will confirm or disprove this. Knowing precisely what is wrong is a prerequisite to overcoming any of life’s dilemmas, certainly this one.

In Chapter Two, let’s find out what is happening to you.

*Adapted from materials created by

The National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, MD, USA,

and The National Depression Campaign,

Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7JB, UK.

2

‘What’s happening to me?’

My mind is troubled like a fountain stirred;

And I myself see not the bottom of it.

—William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida

Depression is a disorder of mood affecting the brain and the central nervous system. In general, it is characterised by extreme gloom, feelings of inadequacy and isolation, and an inability to concentrate. The illness can appear mysterious, variable and elusive in the manner in which it creeps up and takes hold. It remains almost incomprehensible to those who have not experienced it.

Depression can be so severe that life hardly feels worth living and sufferers frequently feel unable to cope with their responsibilities. It causes a tremendous amount of misery and distress and is a major reason for people taking time off work. Even mild, persistent depression can take a huge toll on work and parental or personal relationships. Left untreated, it can be a potentially fatal disorder. The vast majority of people who commit suicide do so when they are depressed.

Other people may notice that someone displaying the signs and symptoms of depression is more inclined to:

complain about vague physical problems;

perform less well at work;

seem unhappy, miserable and difficult to please;

appear to worry or feel guilty about things in general;

be more irritable than usual;

seem isolated and unable to talk about things;

immerse themselves in, or shun, social networks

engage in self-harm.

The fundamental cause of depression is a variation in the biochemistry of the body. Quite simply, the biological difference between having ‘the blues’ and being depressed is believed to be an imbalance in one or more of the chemicals noradrenalin, serotonin and dopamine. Normal functioning of the brain and central nervous system is dependent upon a series of neurotransmitters; these are chemicals forming part of the essential mechanism by which messages are transmitted from one nerve cell (neuron) to another, across the synapse (the space between the cells). This regular transmission of electrical signals sets in motion the complex interactions which shape our thoughts, our feelings and our individual patterns of behaviour.

Depression is an illness with a wide range of physical and psychological symptoms. Loved ones, family and friends, as well as the depressed person, are anxious to know the cause of depression, but there is usually more than one reason and these contributing factors can differ from one person to the next. Simply talking about your feelings to a loved one or a trusted friend can be enormously helpful, however depressed you are, but the energy and motivation to put things right straight away may not be there if your depression is severe.

It is only natural to feel depressed in the aftermath of a distressing event like a row with our partner, a burglary, or a death in the family. Normally, after a period of reflection or adjustment, we work through our feelings about what has happened and come to terms with them.

It is at stressful times like these that our individual circumstances and our friends can make all the difference. If, for example, we find ourselves alone, in difficult or unfamiliar situations, anxious, physically ill, exhausted, run down, in debt or with other worries, we are more likely to succumb to depression, whereas in happier times we would cope.

This applies equally to children, teenagers and adults—male and female—notwithstanding the fact that men find it harder to admit to their feelings of depression and to seek medical advice and treatment. In my professional experience of problem solving, responding intelligently to a dilemma that will get worse if left unchecked is not a sign of weakness. Just the opposite; strong characters like Florence Nightingale and Winston Churchill were no strangers to depression.

Personality is believed to play a part in depression. Some people seem to be more at risk than others. This may be due to body chemistry or to the result of traumatic events from our childhood which have impacted on our personality, such as bullying, abuse, the various misadventures of youth or problems occurring later in life.

The genetic factor can be an important feature in depression, particularly with certain types of depressive disorders that can recur. Some people are more prone to depression than others because of their inherited genes. In this respect, we need to remember that each and every one of us is part of the flow of life: an evolved species. Not unlike wild animals and domesticated pets, our human brains and bodies have evolved from the genes we inherited from our parents, and they from theirs, way back to the distant past.

This means that we are predisposed to feel and think in certain ways. In common with our four-legged friends, we are orientated to seek out food and avoid becoming prey. In our social environment, we prefer to be liked rather than shunned. We respond better to affection than we do to rejection.

Your brain with its capacity for anxiety, anger, envy and lust was not exclusively fashioned by you but, to a great extent, by your genes. Because of this inescapable fact of life your brain has a built-in capacity for a range of emotions including depression. It’s a natural part of our evolution and it is not a cause for shame. Depression is not your fault. But you can learn how to see it off. As indeed you are starting to do right now by reading this book.

A common factor when depressed clients showed up for the first time at my stress management consultancy in Milton Keynes (I’m no longer in practice now; I’m retired) was shame: the feeling of being weak or inadequate in some way, inferior, worthless, unlovable or unforgivable. Sometimes I would get the impression that a prospective client was beating himself or herself up mentally as they arrived for the initial consultation. In fact every single one of them was brave and wise in seeking help to overcome their problem.

The good news is that our own thoughts can play a major role in helping us to beat depression and this is one of many areas of therapy that we shall be concentrating on. Later, when you are ready, we are going to prepare ourselves for one of the essential keys to release from depression, which is to use a system of revised thought patterning.

I can assure you from my many