Depression


DEPRESSION EXPLAINED

To be deeply depressed is just about the most awful feeling we can experience, apart from sheer terror. It can disable anyone.

But the topic is surrounded by false ideas, as experienced by the vast majority of sufferers for example, depression is not a biological illness, neither is it 'anger turned inward', it is not a 'chemical imbalance in the brain', it is not usefully divided into 'clinical depression', 'post-natal depression' and ordinary 'depression', and it is not, in most cases, hard to come out of.

The term 'endogenous depression' is used to describe a low mood that is purely the result of biological factors, such as a brain disorder or neurological dysfunction affecting Seratonin, Dopamine or other neurotransmitters, such specific brain damage is very rare.

How people get depressed

Suppose we have a setback or suffer some traumatic event that interferes with getting our innate needs met.

This easily arouses negative expectations in the autonomic nervous system,  feelings of frustration, being 'stressed', anxiety, anger, guilt etc. — but, instead of taking action to bring the arousal down, which is what the autonomic nervous system is designed to help us do, we start to worry, misusing our imagination by going over and over what's troubling us:

'Why did I lose that job?'... 'what is going to happen to me?' ... 'how am I going to pay my bills?' on and on creating a mountain of negative expectations.

This over-stimulates the autonomic arousal system, which is why depression is such a strong emotion.

All strong emotions focus and lock attention but with depression attention stays focused on all the 'bad' things that seem to be happening to us, whether real or illusory.

As all the things that we worry about and do not resolve in the day are translated into bad dreams the next night, all these worries have to be worked through in extended and intense periods of dream activity in REM sleep as the brain attempts to rebalance your arousal levels, this upsets the relationship between slow wave sleep and REM sleep.
 
Why is that tiring?

Extended dreaming is exhausting, not just because it deprives us of restful and restorative slow-wave sleep (that should make up three-quarters of our sleep time), but also because it stimulates the orientation response.

This is a vital pathway in the brain that alerts us to interesting things in the day, generating motivation to act, but it can't do this so well if it has been over-used in dream-sleep the previous night.
 
So, the next morning we awake feeling terrible because we haven't really slept, and we find it much harder to get motivated to get up and do anything because the brain mechanism that generates that interest in life is exhausted as well.

Exhaustion on waking and lack of motivation are features common to all depressed people, because our normal sense that life is meaningful comes from the actions we take, when our motivation levels are low, life quickly comes to seem meaningless and the natural delight we take in being alive and doing things drains away.

How does Hypnotherapy relieve depression?

Depressed or anxious people don't always respond well using forms of counselling or psychotherapy that encourages introspection or emotional arousal as research shows this is often unintentionally harmful.

As a Hypnotherapist I employ techniques from various therapies that have proven to be effective — interpersonal, cognitive behavioural, solution focused, NLP and Human Givens — plus I  add the new knowledge you have just read above that shows the importance of vividly creating new expectations in the mind of the client to 'kick-start' them again.

As the therapist I have a range of ways to help the client begin to think more clearly about the situation that is causing them to worry, part of which is giving a clear account of what depression is and how it is caused without using psychobabble.

This in itself is hugely therapeutic for most people since no one else is likely to have explained how and why the feelings arose, or told them they were probably imagining that there was something wrong with them.

Simultaneously I can complete an informal emotional needs audit and whilst doing this the clients past achievements, skills and good qualities are also looked for and given as much attention by the therapist as the troublesome history.

If it emerges that there is trauma I can use Hypnotherapy to help the depressed person change their negative expectations into more positive, realistic and concrete ones to help them re-connect with previously enjoyed activities and rehearse doing the things they need to be doing in their imagination first.

This helps them become more confident about using their own resources to pick up their life and get on with taking the actions that will help them start meeting their emotional needs once more.

Fulfilling these innate needs is the major step that resolves depression and prevents relapses.