Knowledge is Power

Clients educated about depression recover better and faster than clients uneducated about depression. Here are some things we know about depression:

• Depression is a social phenomenon and is socially induced.

  Our brains are wired to be social, so much of how our brain learns is social, and so often our social lives don’t work well for us. Rejection, loss, betrayal, humiliation, abuse, and abandonment are all common points of depression’s origin. At the same time, some of the best things that people can do also happen in the context of human relationships - honesty, compassion, generosity, self-sacrifice.

• Medication is great, but it has its limits.

  No amount of medication can teach you more effective coping skills, more realistic explanatory styles, healthier relationship styles, more flexible and discriminative cognitive skills, better problem-solving skills, more effective decision-making strategies, how to build and maintain a support network, how to transcend an adverse personal history, or how to build a realistic and motivating future.

• Beliefs matter

  Your beliefs of what cause your depression have an impact on whether you recover and how fast you recover. Genetics do matter and have an influence, but what matters more are your beliefs, thought patterns, and social supports.

• Moods are a social filter

  Mood affects our social judgments and therefore our quality of interactions. Mood is important, but during depression mood is not to be trusted as an accurate reflection of reality.

• Relationships are important

  I know this is a bit redundant, but it’s important. Regardless of culture, the people who are in positive, satisfying relationships, including in their relationship with themselves, do better in terms of mood and health. It has been shown that social isolation rivals hypertension as a mortality risk factor (Pantell, 2013). We need people. Good relationships are imperative to good mental health.

• Anxiety is usually present also

  Anxiety usually precedes depression and then coexists with it. If you can learn healthy coping skills for anxiety, your depression will improve as well.

• Learning healthy coping skills will help

  The people who recover the best in therapy are those who are active on their own behalf, trying to learn the skills and tools necessary to manage their moods and thinking styles.

• Unhealthy coping styles will not help

  Avoidant and ruminative coping are highly correlated with depression.

• Avoid alcohol

  If you are prone to depression or are depressed, avoid alcohol. It aggravates the same neural pathways of depression, is by definition an avoidant coping style, and makes things worse not better.