Summary: The Downward Spiral Of Depression

Elizabeth Wurtzel once quoted “A human being can survive almost anything, as long as she sees the end in sight. But depression is so insidious, and it compounds daily, that it's impossible to ever see the end. The fog is like a cage without a key.” Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behavior, feelings and sense of well-being. People with a depressed mood can feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, ashamed or restless. Depression is an extremely complex disease. When a person has depression, it interferes with daily life and causes pain for both the person and those who care about that person. Depression is a common but serious illness. Many people

In an article called “The Downward Spiral of Depression,” John Gibson states “Depressed persons see the glass as half-full.” This quote demonstrates that depressed people have a perceptual bias toward extracting negative information from situations while ignoring positive information. They have negative views of themselves, others, and the world. Their memories are consistent with their moods. It’s not necessarily that they had more negative experiences to begin with, it’s that their minds filter out the positive memories to match their depressed state of mind. Unfortunately, negative thinking leads to negative actions which turn often result in negative results. After a while, despair sets in. Despair is when we believe there is no hope that things will get better. The depressed person struggles to function. It’s just too tempting to sit in the chair, lay on the bed, or hide out from the world (Gibson). Or use some substance to help numb the pain. Unfortunately, our bodies restore energy by expending energy. They are not like batteries. We must move to get energy. But movement and effort are generally the last things the depressed person wants to do. So down the spiral they go, slipping deeper and deeper into the mood, the negativity, the despair. Some people with depression experiencing downward spiral may feel overwhelmed and may think of suicide. However in

Recovering from depression requires action, but taking action when you’re depressed is hard. In fact, just thinking about the things people should do to feel better, like going for a walk or spending time with friends, can be exhausting. The things that help the most are the things that are the most difficult to do. There’s a difference, however, between something that's difficult and something that's impossible. The key to depression recovery is to start with a few small goals and slowly build from there. The steps may seem small, but they’ll quickly add up. While taking these steps people may find it can be difficult to maintain perspective and sustain the effort required to beat depression, but the very nature of depression makes it difficult to reach out for help. While isolation and loneliness can trigger or worsen depression, maintaining emotionally close relationships can be instrumental in overcoming it. Overcoming depression should also include a healthy lifestyle, such as learning how to better manage stress, setting limits on what the person is able to do, adopting healthy habits, and scheduling fun activities into your day. Some other behaviors that are apart of the upward spiral are intensive aerobic physical exercise, social contact, thinking of happy memories, improving the quality of your sleep, and exposing yourself to sunlight (Smith). Also, while recovering some people