In my last post, I talked about having Obsessive-Compulsive
Disorder (OCD). Today, I address a
common sibling, or close cousin, of OCD: depression.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH),
over 2 million American adults have OCD, but many millions more – about 30
million – struggle with some form of mood disorder, such as depression, or bi-polar
disorder. My father has bi-polar
disorder, so we both know how difficult depression can be to combat.
Depression, or Major
Depressive Disorder as it is clinically labeled, involves much more than
just “feeling down in the dumps.”
Affecting physical stamina and other elements required for successful
living, depression has a mind-numbing, energy-sucking, and joy-slaughtering
impact on those drawn in by its venomous tentacles.
I address the subject of depression in conjunction with my
experiences with OCD in my book, Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Everything. I know from personal experience that
there is help, hope, and healing available to those who struggle with OCD, a
mood disorder like depression, or any other mental illness.
Today, I address three specific areas that anyone afflicted
with depression – or any other mental illness – can choose to focus on that will
lead to a better tomorrow. They
are:
1). Self-Help
2). Relational Help
3). Spiritual/Existential Help
First, let’s discuss self-help measures you can take.
The initial step when dealing with depression
or any other mental disorder is to consider what you could do yourself to
improve your situation. This
includes study and research to better understand your condition. Before I was clinically diagnosed with
OCD, I was able to diagnose myself by doing research in books and on the
Internet at my high school back in 1996.
Later in 1997, I was clinically diagnosed by a psychiatrist.
Health and fitness are other self-help tools I highly
recommend. I am an avid
runner. In high school, I was a
State Champion, and in college, I became an All-American runner. But today, I run as much for what it
does for my mental and emotional hygiene, as I do for my physical fitness, or
to prepare for a race. I simply
feel better psychologically and emotionally when I am in good physical shape. Getting your heart rate up and working
your muscles is a great form of self-psychotherapy, and the best part is that
it’s FREE!
In choosing an exercise regimen don’t feel pressured to
become a runner like me. Many
people despise running, and that is okay.
When it comes to exercise, it is essential you find something you enjoy,
or else your training plan will not last long enough to do you much good. Find some physical activity that you
enjoy, and then try to engage it for 30-45 minutes at least 3-5 times per
week. If you are consistent, you
will be amazed at the results you will get after a while.
And don’t give up if you don’t see positive results right
away. If I haven’t run in a while
and am just getting back into a training regimen, it usually takes until the
third or fourth week before I finally experience that “runner’s high” again for
the first time. And frankly, the
first few runs – even the first few weeks of runs – tend to be a rather
miserable experience, especially if I have recently been struggling with
symptoms of OCD or depression.
The SECOND AREA of focus is relational help.
If things are not improving with
self-help efforts alone, relational help involves seeking the help of a
licensed professional. With the
assistance of a psychiatrist, counselor, or both, you can receive the counseling
and/or medicinal treatments required to re-establish mental health.
Taking this step is usually not easy. With lingering stigmas attached to
mental illness, many are hesitant to seek help even when they know they need
it.
It may help to know that one of the most famous
psychiatrists of all time – M. Scott
Peck, M.D. – equated seeking out therapy to great personal fortitude, and
suggested that such persons are among the strongest, not the weakest, who walk
the Planet.
“You may think that [psychiatric
patients] are more cowardly and frightened than most. Not so. Those
who come to psychotherapy are the wisest and most courageous among us. Everyone has problems, but what they
often do is to try to pretend that those problems don’t exist, or they run away
from those problems, or drink them down, or ignore them in some other way. It’s only the wiser and braver among us
who are willing to submit themselves to the difficult process of
self-examination that happens in a psychotherapist’s office” (From Further Along the Road Less Traveled, Simon & Schuster, 1993, Chap.
3, p. 51-52).
Indeed, it takes courage to seek professional help, but the
rewards can more than compensate for the perceived risks.
In less serious cases, you can seek relational help from a
spouse, a mentor, a spiritual leader, a parent, or another trusted family
member or friend. It is important
and therapeutic to have someone in
your life whom you can safely divulge personal, sensitive, and even secret
information about yourself. Some
things simply cannot be resolved all on their own. In such cases, we need the help of others.
I have benefitted greatly from the help of such
relationships, both professional and personal. In addition to working with psychiatrists and professional
counselors, I have also worked with semi-professional (grad-student)
counselors when I could not afford professional fees, and even lay counselors (my older sister and brother).
As important as self-leadership is, it
cannot replace the help that is sometimes needed from others.
Third, those who suffer from mental illness can find
enormous benefits from spiritual/existential help.
Prayer, fasting, meditation, and
worship have all granted me greater access to Heaven’s Power in working through my
OCD and depression.
If you are not a religious or spiritual person, there are
still things that you can do. For
example, gaining greater clarity on your life’s purpose can provide great
meaning, which in turn, has the benefit of aiding mental hygiene. In my book, I discuss some specific
steps you can take to aid in clarifying your life’s purpose. For example, you can compose a
Self-Declaration of Independence and a Self-Constitution (Chapter 30), which
will also be the subject of future blog posts.
The great Viennese psychiatrist Victor Frankl of the last
century was a survivor of the Nazi death camps in World War II. After his liberation, he developed a
new brand of psychotherapy called Logotherapy. Logotherapy focuses on helping a
patient find meaning in his or her life.
In his book, Man’s Search for
Meaning, Frankl claims that, “striving to find a meaning in one’s life is
the primary motivational force in man.”
Moreover, the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzshe has said: “He who
has a why to live for can bear with
almost any how.” For Frankl, mental health is a direct
outgrowth of finding meaning and purpose in your life.
My experiences support Frankl’s theories of Logotherapy. Despite any and all symptoms of mental illness I have
struggled with, my mental hygiene is almost always at its best when I am eagerly
engaged in a good cause that motivates me, and provides meaningful service to
others in the process. Such
activities provide purpose and meaning for me, and help alleviate my depressive
symptoms.
If you, or someone you love struggles with a mood disorder
like depression or bi-polar, or any other mental disorder, there is help and
hope for healing. Don’t stand idly
by and allow the disorder to conquer you.
Rise up and claim the self-sovereignty that Life has endowed you with. Take action, seek the help of others, including
a Higher Power if you are a believer, and search out the bigger picture of your
life’s meaning and purpose.
Taking these steps in your life will not guarantee you will never experience depressive or neurotic
symptoms, but they will make your challenges more manageable so that you, not
the disorder, ultimately calls the shots in your life.
Remember the great truth that while you cannot always
control how you feel, you do have control over what you do about how you feel, and there exists great power in your freedom
and capacity to act. If you
continue to do the same things you have always done, you will continue to get
the same results you have always gotten.
If you want a different output in your life, you must invest in a different
input – this is simply a mathematical truism. When you begin to change, things will begin to change for
you.
“What you become inwardly changes your outer
reality.” ~ Plutarch / Otto Rank
VISIT FREEDOMFOCUSED.COM for more information on Dr. Jordan R. Jensen and his Company.
Thank you for this post !! Was very informative and helpful for me as I also suffer from the same issues.
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