is making yourself think positively the key to overcoming depression?!


Question: Is making yourself think positively the key to overcoming depression?
i cannot for the life of me continue to be positive. Saying nice things about myself is harder than saying negative things that leave me in a whirlwind of confusion and hopelessness.

Everyone keeps telling me i have to be the one to change and start being positive. I don't know how or where to start, perhaps somebody could shed some light?

Answers:

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

No,thinking rationally is the way out of depression. Just don't think negative. It is very difficult to be positive when depressed,people who have not experienced clinical depression don't understand that. Thinking realistically and rationally is the first step to fighting the negative thinking of depression.

For instance, when depressed I feel like everybody hates me, but is that really the truth? Probably not, that is just the negative thinking making me feel that way. Depression is a false way of perceiving the world, it is distorted thinking at its worse.My brain knows that everybody does not hate me, my depression is lying to me when I feel that way. I listen to my brain because I know that my depression is a liar. Changing the way we think CAN change the way we feel. A book about this approach is called Feeling Good by David Burns. I think it will explain it much better than I can. I argue with my depression all the time. Try it.



It doesn't sound like you are doing cognitive behavioral therapy - it sounds more like positive affirmations. I read something a few months back that said that it actually makes most depressed people feel worse when they do those affirmations. So why not give up with that, it wasn't working for you anyhow, and do practical things to feel better instead. Like more exercise, having more fun with friends (don't talk about your problems a lot, just do things together), change the subject in your head if you are brooding over problems you can't change, or distract yourself - play cards, read, do puzzles, etc.

also, there is free cognitive behavioral therapy at moodgym, which is a computer program developed by australia nat'l university. It has little tests to check for "warpy thinking" and some homework for you to do.

PS I agree with donna - I get that everybody hates me type thinking too. I don't know that there is anyone who hates me, but when the depression is very severe, I rant about how everybody hates me. i did get bullied a lot when i was young, and was sexually abused, so it may be that when I get really depressed, i can't seem to reason with this stuff anymore, so it all comes out. It just makes things worse though. So then i try to distract myself.



Yes, it's the premise of cognitive behavioral therapy (basically the therapy any therapist would put you through). It's really effective. You need to recognize your negative thoughts. Realize that they are fallacious and counterproductive, and then intentionally reproduce positive thoughts in their place as well as whenever possible. Promise, if you can break your negative illogical thinking with positive thoughts the world will be your oyster. Being depressed is a waste of life when you can be spending feeling blessed and uplifted.



Not really. You can have some adventures that will make you enjoy yourself. Be with your loved ones and spend some quality times. Tell them what you feel and im sure, they will understand you. :)

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Everyone has there own light inside them. Everyone is beautiful in one way or another. No one can tell you otherwise. Everyone has there own talent. Find yours. It may just take you a long way. Hope I helped!




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