Good Mood: The New Psychology
of Overcoming Depression
NEGATIVE SELF-COMPARISONS
The fight against depression best begins by learning which negative
self-comparisons the sufferer habitually makes. This is done by noticing and
recording the self-comparisons that you make when you are depressed.
The next step is to determine why the person is making those
particular negative self-comparisons; this requires an understanding of the
psychological structure that is related to such negative self-comparisons. You
should also ask yourself why you feel helpless to change your
circumstances or the goals that you set, and why you feel that you must
make the particular self- comparisons that you do make. It is possible to get
rid of the sadness-causing negative self-comparisons even without
understanding why you make them, but the understanding often is valuable. The
causation of depression is not simple. Understanding it soundly helps point
you toward successful tactics for combating the depression.
Then you should formulate a strategy for attacking the depression.
Improving the numerator in the Mood Ratio, by improving the accuracy with
which you assess the actual state of your life, is often the best place to
begin. If this tactic does not suffice, you may next attempt to change the
denominator, the benchmark state against which you compare your actual state
of affairs. If this still does not suffice, you may consider changing the
dimensions on which you commonly compare yourself, away from dimensions on
which you compare negatively and toward those on which you compare positively.
Still a further step is to reduce the number of self-comparisons and
self-evaluations you make, by immersing yourself in work or altruism, or by
recourse to meditation or related devices. A combination of several
intervention devices, including an effort to reduce the feeling of being
helpless, may be best.
VALUES THERAPY
An extraordinary new (though very old) cure for some is Values Therapy.
When a person's negative self-comparisons - no matter what their original
cause - are expressed as shortfalls between the person's circumstances and her
most fundamental beliefs (values) about what a person should be and do, Values
Treatment can build on other values to defeat the depression. The method is to
find within yourself other fundamental beliefs and values that call for a
person not to suffer but rather to live happily and joyfully, for the sake of
God or for the sake of man - oneself, family, or others. If you believe in the
super ordinate value of a belief which conflicts with being depressed, that
belief can induce you to enjoy and cherish life rather than to be sad and
depressed.
Practical exercises are important, especially recording your negative
self-comparisons followed by analyzing and demolishing them. And don't forget
to plan and carry out lots of pleasurable experiences, an important part of
therapy for depression.
IN A NUTSHELL
Understand the key role of negative self-comparisons. Then study how you
developed the propensity to construe your numerator or your denominator in
such a manner that the self-comparisons are negative, and why you make
self-comparisons as frequently as you do. Then decide what changes in your
thinking you intend to make. Then develop the habit of thinking in these new
ways which will reduce or eliminate your depression.
These are the possible tactics:
- Improve the numerator in your Mood Ratio, by getting rid of
misconceptions about yourself, or by learning that your capacities to
influence events in a desirable direction are greater than you thought.
- Alter your denominator to make it less formidable, by changing the
benchmarks against which you compare your actual state of affairs.
- Change the dimensions on which you habitually compare yourself.
- Re-train yourself so you seem to yourself more competent and less
helpless.
- Reduce the number of comparisons you make each day, by immersing
yourself in work or altruistic activity, or by recourse to meditation or
related devices.
- Examine your basic values to learn what is important to you that may
influence your wanting to be depressed or wanting not to be depressed.
Others soon find their way back to joyful and productive
life, and chances are you will, too. I wish you the best of luck.
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