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Early this morning I woke with yet another severe headache and while I lay there in bed trying to ascertain which headache I was suffering from in order to decide if I need to take my medication I thought about this question: What makes me depressed, what circumstances enhance my depression? And I realised just how many of my life's circumstances make me depressed, far more than I was able to relate to my psychologist. I had in fact rarely asked myself: what makes me depressed, at least not in so many words, although I recognise obvious events and circumstances in my life such as my OCD, the death of my sister and more recently my brother-in-law, my son’s mental health problems, my husbands depression, my headaches, migraine and other physical maladies, noise pollution from a local factory and the difficulty settling in to a new locality. In addition I may also have noticed more subtle less profound issues which make me depressed. But I have never thought in great depth exactly what makes me depressed, I guess that I take it for granted that such issues make me depressed. But the above list are obvious reasons to be depressed but there are many other issues which either make me depressed or enhance my existing depression. If I wrote a list to identify everything which makes me depressed what would be on that list? Would I be shocked how seriously depressed I am and just how many things negatively effect my mood. Will identifying what precisely makes me depressed help me to recognise certain life events or negative thinking perspectives that enhance and perpetuate my melancholy, a tendency which for the most part I believe to be an hereditary predisposition. The following is a list that I may present to my psychologist . We should feel sorrow, but not sink under its
oppression. My OCD will naturally make me depressed, it would be difficult indeed to be happy or even mildly contented when one’s life is absorbed by fear and anxiety, when one is compelled to spend ones precious life absorbed by obsessive-compulsive behaviours and tormented by awful and frightening intrusive thoughts and catastrophic scenarios. However in the past when I have experienced improvement in my OCD, usually after therapy, I have actually noticed my depression increase. Why is this? Maybe it is because while I am in the throes of complying with the compulsions borne of the persistent obsessions I am actually less aware as to how depressed I am, and it is only when my depression becomes severe, more like major depression when I cruel up on the settee and give into this deeper type of depression, that I really take stock of the fact that I am actually very depressed. While my attention and energises are poured into making sure I have fulfilled my OCD obligations I am not actually paying as much attention to how I feel other than the obvious feelings of anxiety and fear, and even those emotions at times are felt less when my mind's so intent upon my obsessions, compulsions, ruminations and intrusive thoughts. I have realised over the years that in fact if it were not for my OCD I would probably have little motivation to do anything! As sad as that is, it is nonetheless a fact to some extent, most of what I do, which includes activities to distract from my OCD such as my work on the computer, including this website and my artwork, is in fact actually motivated by OCD fears and obsessions: namely my fear of death; my fear of my increasing age; the fear of dying have considered my life wasted having done nothing worth while and the race against time to find some satisfaction. These are among the considerations which motivate my actions and it may be that such actions are therefore motivated by my OCD. I have the idea that without my OCD I would be far more severely depressed inasmuch as I would be more aware of my depression and less motivated to be engaged in more positive activates which regardless of there origin are beneficial - at least up to a point but again there are negative consequences as I will explain. I am not for one minute suggesting that it would be better to have the OCD. Of course this is not the case. I am merely pointing out how my depression is effected by my OCD, the ideal situation of course would be to be rid of both of these incapacitating life destroying maladies. I also need to point out that when I am less depressed for whatever reason my OCD is less of a problem and I feel more motivated to try and cope better with this pervasive malady. It is rather a catch twenty two situation if I understand this metaphor correctly, metaphors are sometimes rather grey areas for me. I guess to use yet another metaphor it is rather like what comes first the chicken or the egg. Complex issues I know and I cannot attempt to explain them, all I am attempting here is to share with you my thoughts on the matter of depression. Concerning the hobbies and pastimes mentioned above, or indeed any endeavour however motivated, there can be negative issues arising from such which in themselves may give rise to depression albeit more mild than some of the more serious issues mentioned earlier - at least in my experience. It should be said here that circumstances which bring about depression of course vary from individual to individual, some quite minor issues may make some people profoundly depressed while quite major negatives issues effect others less so. Again most of what I write here stems from my own experiences and one should accept that another person’s experience with depression will be quite different. Often hobbies can be fulfilling giving me a sense of achieving something despite all the disruption of my life as a result of my OCD; such pastimes help me to feel that my life has not been entirely wasted and to some extent they offset the negativity and frustration of my existence. However such can also generate stress and depression. If things do not turn out as I expect I am ashamed to say I tend to get depressed and slip quite easily into despair over quite trivial issues arising from my perfectionism and my inability to cope with the reality of life that at all levels of human endeavour things go wrong and they do so on a regular basis. Every act of life, from the morning toothbrush to the friend at dinner,
became an effort. I hated the night when I couldn't sleep and I hated the day
because it went toward night.
I have noticed feelings of quite significant depression over what may
appear to the well balanced person to be quite inconsequential irritations and
frustrations, for instance my website not publishing correctly, or not being
able to get that graphic just right or being unable to express myself in my
writing correctly, or my painting or drawing is not as good as I would like, the
imperfections screaming for attention. I notice this depression and recognise it
for what it is an overreaction to the many frustrations of life which all
have to bear, and compared to much of the suffering aboard in the world is of
minor consequence. However I believe as a sufferer of OCD and depression I may
of course actually be rather over sensitive to such issues and again it is
rather like the chicken and the egg situation. Does my oversensitivity cause the
depression or does my depression cause my oversensitivity? I try to reason
myself out of it telling myself that with time and patience such problems may be
resolved and that everyone experiences similar irritating frustrations. Many
artists are dissatisfied with their work many painters have abandoned a painting
and so on. Many such as Monet have described painting as having it’s depressing
facets as a result of things not going according to plan. Depression often arises from negative thinking albeit unintentionally. I guess this may actually come under the category of OCD intrusive thoughts or perhaps the negative thinking of general anxiety disorder GAD. For instance as I was on the net just now I had the notion that advice I have given to my son had actually been given in a careless manner and I had not thought out this advice as I perhaps should have done. All of a sudden this thought was there after many days had passed and it made me fee overwhelmed with melancholy and guilt. Yet was this thought real, valid and worthy of consideration or was it an OCD intrusive thought one of many original thoughts in its bizarre repertoire of tried and tested torments of which it plagues me particularly during the early hours of the morning even when I am intensity occupied . Most certainly ones thoughts have a profound effect upon ones mood, Buddha said that the mind was the architect of our suffering : All that we are is the result of what we have thought; it is
founded on our thoughts, it is made of our thoughts. Our life is what our thoughts make it. Indeed the way we perceive the world often determines how happy or unhappy we will be, the reality of the world to some extent for everyone exists within our mind, its perception shaped by what we think and how we perceive each situation. Many people suffer terribly but do not become bitter whilst others suffer sometimes less so and their suffering is compounded with bitterness. Our thoughts shape our world so it is no wonder that those of us with OCD will be more prone to depression. Negative thoughts for people with OCD, GAD and other mental health problems are not easy to shake off or ignore and advice to rid oneself of such negative thinking by telling oneself that there is nothing you can do about this or that does not rid us of the depression and the emotion born of a frightening , worrying or disturbing thought. Often people tell me that there is no pointing worrying about death as there is nothing that can be done to prevent this occurrence. Oh if only ones worries could be dismissed so easily. Worry, fear and ultimately depression are feelings, physiological sensations which one experiences in the body in much the same way as one experiences a headache, a stomach-ache and so on. You feel your depression mostly round your heart, your heart weighs heavy hence the expression a heavy heart when referring to sadness. Yes you can feed your mind with more positive thoughts and perhaps this works to some degree with enormous effort but until these thoughts transfer unto feelings such positive affirmations remain only words. I am not of course saying it is impossible to change negative feelings into positive ones. Most certainly with time and determination this is indeed possible and such will enhance your life but for this to really be effective your feelings have to change to correspond with such positive outlooks for this to make a real difference to how we perceive the world and to ultimately alleviate our depression. Even if one cannot bring about such a dramatic change overall, trying to bring some small positivity for a short duration may leave one feeling less melancholy. Often I find some relief albeit of a brief duration from reading positive insightful quotes hence the inspirations page. However to implement lasting change often ones overall view needs to change on a regular basis. Indeed ones thoughts determine to a great degree ones mood particularly when your mood is effected by circumstances which are not easily seen as sufficient to make you depressed. Obviously I am not speaking of serious reasons for depression such as serious illnesses, bereavement and the like, no I believe it is normal to be depressed in such circumstances and everyone sufferers such depression sometime in their lives. Rather it is the less obvious reasons of depression and life circumstances which are greatly effected by ones thoughts; a person who has a continual stream of negative thoughts upon all aspects of their existence is bound to be more prone to depression than a person who tends to look at life on the bright side. Quite how to significantly change ones perceptions is however quite another matter entirely, particularly if one has been prone to negative thinking during his or her entire life. My mood and degree of depression is effected by negative circumstances in the world and the suffering experienced by all beings. Often after watching the news I can become extremely effected by the tragedy of suffering, particularly the suffering of the vulnerable in our society and of the millions who suffer deprivation as a result of the greed and callousness of governments, particularly of the western world. Recently I was bought to tears due to explicit pictures of the appalling suffering of starving children in Africa, particularly the poignant picture of a little boy with a lung infection. This effected me profoundly all day, not only because my crying bought on a migraine but because those awful pictures of such tragic suffering remained in my minds eye and they are there now as I write. Yes universal suffering on all levels effects me greatly as though it is for me a personal issue and I feel as though I feel the pain of such misery beyond words. Moreover such sensitivities encompass all creatures, all creatures suffer, life indeed is marred for every creature that draws breath. There cannot be one single creature which has not suffered in some way or another, it is an inescapable reality and something which we can never avoid. However many can get along with their lives and manage not to allow such to significantly make them depressed, after all it serves no purpose and in fact may eventually render the sufferer incapable of taking any action to bring about a change either in his or her own circumstances or that of another. Yet it is not easy for some of us to dismiss such suffering and when I say dismiss I do not mean to the point of ceasing to care rather I mean to the point of not allowing such to undermine your health, after all what good did it do that little boy my getting migraine and becoming depressed and indeed angry. However adopting such rational approaches and reasoning in this as in any situation is easier said than done and personally I find it difficult to set aside the suffering of others however futile. The suffering of others cannot fail to have an effect upon deep thinking individuals, there surely can be few rational compassionate people who are not effected by the suffering of others the following quotation from Saadi a 13th century Persian poet elegantly expresses this profound concept , a concept that often we do not consider when we try to analyse our depression. Human beings are all members of one body. It is indeed a question that I have often asked myself: how can I be happy when all around me is suffering. How can I be happy when my son is depressed and his life is going nowhere, when my neighbour is ill ,when a passer-by looks sad when thousands die each day from starvation and deprivation. And for me personally such considerations extend beyond the human animal to all animals all creatures however lowly. I used to enjoy the snow each year but now after becoming more aware of the suffering of the sheep which abound here in the many places of wild open countryside my enjoyment is marred as I see the dejected expressions on the faces of a sheep stood stock still against the assault and the misery of snow, hail, rain and bitter cold. And please do not tell me animals are used to it, that they don't notice it and they don't have feelings. Ask yourself: How do you know? Unless you have been an animal how can you know. All the arguments to prove man's superiority cannot shatter this hard fact:
in suffering the animals are our equals. All beings feel pain including emotional pain. Have you never noticed a depressed dog or other animal? Well some years ago despite my fear of dogs I used to have to walk past this dog which sat in in the door way of a neighbouring house with an expression that can only be described as depressed, I could see the sadness in it‘s eyes. No I do not image this, why would I? After all I am very frightened of dogs because of my OCD. All beings experience both physical and emotional pain and for me it is indeed difficult to set this aside and such universal suffering is bound to have an effect upon the mood of a sensitive person. Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep
heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on Earth. To a significant degree of course depression occurs from circumstances outside of our control when really terrible tragedy befalls ones self and those whom we care about. This is the type of depression to which most people can relate. A couple of years ago I lost my sister my only sibling. Although separated by distance and fear concerning our respective mental health problems we were close and her loss has effected me profoundly and from time to time this sense of loss and hopeless enhances my depression and it is a natural response and one that really does not ease with the passing of time as is well expressed in the following quotation. Time does not heal, Moreover my depression in recent years has been compounded with the suffering of my brother-in-law, Mike, who only months after the death of his wife, my sister, underwent brain surgery after sustaining an injury after a fall made worse by the sad consequence of neglect whilst living in sheltered accommodation in Leicester: he was left for thirty six hours without treatment due to the negligence of the resident warden whose job it was to care for residents. And in recent weeks Mike died, possibly indirectly as a result of this injury after two years of much suffering, I feel this loss profoundly I had known him for thirty six years. Such awful events in ones life bring about not only the more inactive passive sense of depression but also feelings of anger. It is said that depression is unexpressed anger and for me personally I can agree with this. Five years ago my husband was made redundant after twenty five years with the same firm, he was treated badly and received no compensation from the firm which went into liquidation, he received the sum of £50 after thirty years of work, dedicated work. Well I will not go into details as rehashing such experiences exacerbates anger which leads to depression. Suffice it to say from that time five years ago our lives have been turned upside down and all three of us have suffered greatly and depression is of course an inevitable consequence, particularly for suffers of mental health problems who may be more sensitive to the tragedy of life. I am angry about this callous disregard of my husband on behave of his former employer and it is not easy to set aside such resentment as our lives have been wretched as a consequence. My husband is anxious and depressed and fearful for the future. Indeed it is fear of the future and what it may bring that enhances ones depression and in my experience now I am getting older it is more difficult to attempt to significantly alter my feelings of depression. The fear of aging and the approach of death is now a bigger issue and many mornings I wake to have this fear haunt me with the cold cloying feelings of apprehension and existential dread. Also less profound and frightening worries of future events plague me even quite insignificant ones by the perception of course of a more rational less sensitive person. Such as an unpleasant appointment - and this can be quite trivial and I am ashamed to admit this with the following example, but I will include it all the same despite my embarrassment as it so illustrates the varying degree of depression from the sublime and consequential to the trivial and insignificant. An impending appointment at the optician can make me anxious and depressed simply due to the anxiety of having to undergo a simple painless but uncomfortable test for glaucoma. Silly I know but months ahead this ridiculous anxiety haunts me and as the time approaches I will experience some feeling of depression related to this. It is not the cares of today, but the cares of
tomorrow, that weigh a man down Although it may of course be said that such feelings may not really count as depression but more as discontent and unhappiness. However again it does rather depend upon ones perspective does it not. As I have already said depression varies according to ones personal perspective and what may cause profound depression in one person may not necessity do so in another. Also it should perhaps be considered that other unhappiness such as feelings of dissatisfaction may compound an existing depressive illness and should therefore be considered as relevant. In the Buddhist tradition Siddhartha Gautama ,(Buddha ) meditated upon the causes of unhappiness and suffering, the result was the following referred to as the four noble truths and these I will relate here for interest and will briefly consider those concepts where they relate to depression, dissatisfaction and unhappiness. The first three perhaps being more relevant to depression or unhappiness in more general non religious terms, at least in relationship to this article. The four noble truths are briefly as follows: Life is suffering, all beings suffer. I will briefly discuss these concepts as related to everyone in general for indeed these observations pertain to every person as all feel depressed, dissatisfied and suffer on some level or another. The above is Buddhist teaching but is relevant to everyone regardless of religious belief or other wise. I personally view Buddhism more as a science of the mind - at least the teachings which relate to the mind, thinking and how our thoughts effect our perceptions and consequently influence the level of our suffering. Buddha made many observations that are particularly relevant to those of us with mental health problems. He realised through meditation and contemplation that to exist one cannot avoid suffering however the cause of suffering is within ones self and realising this fact we can free ourselves from suffering. Yes easier said than done I know and I agree with this observation only up to a point at least for those of us who are not accomplished Buddhist practitioners and are merely looking for ways to improve our lives rather than seeking some profound religious enlightenment. I believe that we can alleviate some of our suffering by recognising the cause of some facets of our suffering, facets that sadly play quite a significant role in the suffering of many people as a result of pervasive feelings of dissatisfaction because of their perceived unsatisfactory lot in life. Buddha realised to be free of suffering one needed to be free of craving and desiring, not only material acquisitions but desiring life to be different from what it is. Buddha taught that all suffering arises within the mind. I agree with this observation to a great extent - at least I personally think that at the very least much of our suffering is accentuated by what arises within our minds, what we think and our perspective towards our individual suffering enhances our capacity for an increase in our suffering if our perspective is negative. In regard to the above as I examine my life and consider my thoughts and the circumstances that enhance my depression I can be quite amazed at what actually effects my depression in a very negative way. Dissatisfaction for example. In recent weeks it has come to my attention that no matter what I do during the day either for this website or related to my art work it is never enough and I am rarely if ever satisfied with what I have accomplished; it is either insufficient and I berate myself that I did not do more and have wasted time on less important things or it is less than perfect. I should mention also that such thinking not only compounds my depression but becomes part of my OCD. Yesterday I noticed that I asked my husband over and over about a painting I had completed which of course was not to my satisfaction. Therefore dissatisfaction on all levels of existence may have a profound effect on depression particularly for a sufferer of OCD who by their nature tend to analyse everything. The tendency to desire life to be other than what it is, is of course a universal feeling by which everyone is driven and many may indeed be negativity effected when that which they desire and crave does not come to fruition. The most obvious example is materialism. I will be completely honest knowing oh so well that here I am not alone. We all want things, we all want to be happy and in the throes of our dissatisfaction we think materialism will fill that empty void, the new car, the latest TV and so on. Perhaps it does for a time but it is a quick fix and it is soon that we need another fix. The abundance of material goods we see not only whilst shopping but which is forced upon you whilst surfing the net, watching TV, in magazines and so on - well you know it really has gone out of control now -increases that craving, a craving which will never be satisfied. Capitalism thrives upon the exploitation of our desires, to be successful it takes advantage of those desires, that black hole of craving which is never satisfied no matter what we have. Sadly such unsatisfied craving can make us depressed. And for me personally the decadence of greed in our society and my own inability to resist the dissatisfaction of not getting what I think I need or rather want adds to depression. Conversely feelings of guilt and anger over the explosion of luxuries and pointless technology such as mobile phones which can take pictures and download music and goodness knows what else seems decadent as others die from want of a meal, such unfairness and social injustice makes me depressed. Yes I have a computer and yes it does appear rather hypocritical and this is my whole point, I do feel guilty tainted by greed and dissatisfaction. However a computer is a more valuable tool and brings to the fore many situations in the world that would other wise go unnoticed, it is a valuable information tool and most importantly allows everyone to have their say. - again this is only my opinion, my perspective which as we have already pointed out of course shapes are perception of our existence and various from person to person. Yes I know there are many who do not have such technology and there are many who have nothing to eat and neither is right and neither needs to be this way as there are enough resources in the world for everyone to have a satisfactory and fulfilling life. My computer enhances my life and allows me to do something worthwhile - at least I hope this website has been and will be of some use to someone. Moreover if I gave up my computer nothing would change for those who suffer in the world. Nonetheless I am often plagued by guilt and such adds to my depression. Often what may appear as greed and decadence really only masks a serious social sickness and that is dissatisfaction and deep seated unhappiness which many attempt to alleviate in the only way they know how and that is by the acquisition of material things . I once said to my son that true happiness will not be found in the acquisition of material things his reply was:" Well what else is there".? Materialism is of course not the only form of dissatisfaction that induces the type of unfulfilled cravings that lead to unhappiness. Simply wanting your situation to be other than what it is causes dissatisfaction and effects your mood. However this is not to say that one should not try to improve ones lot but perhaps one should try to learn to cope with the dissatisfaction and disappointment if this is not possible. Often when we are out in, for instance the Yorkshire Dales, all I can think of is that I would like to live here right in the Dales or in any of the other remote and wild places where peace and tranquilly await me, at least that is my dream, my perception of such a life and how I would like it to be for me personally. So instead of enjoying our trips out while we are able to do so I can become rather despondent thinking about how I would like to live out the rest of my life here in one of these remote regions. To have a little stone cottage somewhere in the middle of nowhere off the beaten track and live an idyllic life pottering about round the house, in the garden, going for walks, out an about sketching all the magnificent scenery, enjoying the peace and tranquillity of the rippling streams, the raging rivers even the wind swept hills. However while I am so desiring and ruminating upon what I do not have and most likely never will have I am missing out on what I can actually have in the here and now, and that is regular day trips to such places. Such is beyond the reach of many people who live in crowded cities far from even a days outing to such places. Often I tell myself to appreciate what I have in this regard for it will not last forever and than when such trips are impossible I will regret that I did not enjoy what I had. Moreover the misery of all my physical maladies is enhanced by the depression and stress which arises from not accepting that I am ill and trying to comply with the desires of other people to do things that I am not able to do. Often I cry if only I could be ill in peace. Yes often doggedly trying to cope with an illness or disability in an unrealistic way can make such a disability even more incapacitating as depression and anxiety are than added to the overall misery. Often we arrange to do something every day, now everyday I have a headache in varying duration and degree and at least twice each week a migraine. It is therefore unrealistic to expect our plans to come to fruition everyday, as this is not possible and to therefore become angry, frustrated and depressed is irrational. Its a form of desire and craving for things to be different, and such causes suffering which in my case manifests as depression. Of course as a sufferer of OCD intrusive thoughts and ruminations add to the mix and further compound my depression. The more you try to avoid suffering, the more you
suffer because smaller things begin to torture you in proportion to your fear of
suffering Depression often result from quite inconsequential events, the tiniest thing that goes wrong can bring on an increase in depression and anxiety. The more I become depressed and the more anxious I get the more I become effected by quite inconsequential things which will than add to my depression, another catch twenty two situation. Any minor change in plans or something going wrong has quite a negative impact upon my mood. The other Sunday I suddenly noticed the walls in the hobby’s room were damp. I had hoped that last summer we had fixed this but no today it is in fact far worse and this really lowered my mood the entire day. Yes of course such occurrences are upsetting and they occur to everyone from time to time. But I would imagine for the more balanced person such things would have a far less negative impact. After a time and constant years of suffering depression and anxiety I have noticed that I have become more sensitive to any negative occurrence. I guess this is the consequence of years of unremitting depression. I can honestly say that throughout my life my mood and outlook has always been negative but when I was younger before my OCD become full-blown there were times when life did not seem quite so abysmal and I awoke with anticipation and enjoyed many aspects of my existence. Now however with the long years of suffering depression and anxiety - anxiety of course has an effect upon ones depression - I find it very difficult to enjoy much of anything and every issue becomes an insurmountable mammoth problem. Concerning the reasons for my own person depression I would have to include my social ineptness, my inability to form close relationships enough to really have many friends. Throughout my life I could probably count my friends on one hand. I of course met my husband but for the most part his social skills are not that great either although he does make more of an effort to converse with others whereas in recent years I have tended to give up. It is lonely particularly now that I do not have my sister to chat with on the phone each Sunday and I miss our little confidences and having someone to share miseries with and also interests. Few people these days are really interested in others anyway. Samuel Johnson once advocated the company of others as a means to overcoming melancholy however when you are tense because of your social incapacities this recourse to relief from your depression is not available to you. For me personally depression is a mixture of OCD, other types of inappropriate thinking, social anxiety, unrealistic expectations, tragic circumstances, dissatisfaction, perfectionism that cannot be realised and probably much much more which I have not yet considered. Now after all this negativity I guess it would be a good idea to create a balance by including something positive, for instance : what do I do to combat my depression. Well sadly life is not always ideal as I have gone to great pains to describe and I cannot here right now at this time include a balance. If only I could, knowing why I am depressed does not necessarily mean that I can do much about it particularly when the depression arises from circumstances beyond my control or arises from negative thoughts especially those of an OCD nature. However I will say that just recognising what makes you depressed, particularly the little things which often go unnoticed, can indeed help you to at least have some insight into the whys and wherefore of your depression - if you do not recognise why you are depressed you will be less able to find a solution. Talking to another person may enhance your insight and change your perspective. I find activity will help to some extent although of course one has to bear in mind the difficulties I have already mentioned concerning perfectionism and other feelings of dissatisfaction which may arise because of false expectations, however this of course is not the case for everyone. Often a change of scenery can be mood enhancing even if you take your problems with you as of course you invariably do when you suffer with an anxiety disorder . Also dipping into books of inspiring quotations and books of a healing nature such as self help or books about spirituality if you are this way inclined and even if you are not such books can still have good advice for how to cope with the difficulties of daily living. For a selection of self help ideas from this website click: I do of course realise that there are occasions and indeed long periods of time when depression can be so profound that one is unable to contemplate or analyse the whys and wherefores let alone do anything to rectify them. Moreover I know only too well how exasperating it is to be given advice to do this or that when we can barely get out of bed or move from our chair bought so low by our depression. Depression is different for different people, my son seems unable to motivate himself no matter what and my attemps to pursued him to occupy himself result in only more irritation and frustration. We all know our limitations and there may be a time when such introspection and effort to improve our mood may be impossible. But if you can when your mood is lighter, even if only for a few minutes, you may wish to try to do something to uplift your mood and find some activity which will give some satisfaction. If this is at all possible it will help even if only for a short time. T he problem isn't materialism as such. Rather it is the underlying assumption that full satisfaction can arise from gratifying the senses alone. Unlike animals whose quest for happiness is restricted to survival and to the immediate gratification of sensory desires, we human beings have the capacity to experience happiness at a deeper level which, when achieved, can overwhelm unhappy experiences.His Holiness the Dalai Lama
If anyone has any ideas how to improve depression please share them with other sufferers. Please contact Christine at: Useful links concerning depression: (No responsibility is taken for external links) Depression Facts, Symptoms, Treatment Depression Alliance web site with information about depression symptoms, treat Links concerning Buddhism and depression Mental Illness Leads to Spiritual Journey
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