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Influence of Society and Family
The best evidence to date suggests that for
most people depression is not a biologically based disease. The
"disease model" of depression - talk of "chemical imbalance" etc.
and the value of anti-depressant medications have been exaggerated,
mostly by drug companies.
Biology is only a part of the depression story
and medication is rarely the solution, although it may help with
some of the symptoms initially. Doesn't is make sense to address all
dimensions of the problem of depression, particularly the faulty
patterns of thinking that no drug can affect as effectively as
cognitive therapies like Time Line Therapy® can?
For most people, depression is a product of a
hurtful way of interpreting and responding to life experiences.
Depression involves a set of projections about you, your life, the
universe, everything. By projection, we mean the way you interpret
something that is ambiguous and unclear.
Society, in a variety of dramatic and powerful
ways, began to shape your life. Society has countless expectations
for each of us regarding how we are "supposed to" behave as members.
Your family is one of the many representatives of society, but it is
certainly the most prominent external force in shaping your
individual experience and, consequently, your personality. The
family, and the larger society of which it is only a part,
communicate their expectations in a variety of ways, sometimes
through clear, direct, and specific instructions about how to behave
in a given situation, sometimes more indirectly.
Throughout our lives, we are rewarded for doing
some things and punished for doing others. There are experiences we
are encouraged to seek out and those we are taught to avoid. So too,
there are subjects we are told are all right to talk about, and
those we are told not to talk about, and these also play a large
part in how we perceive the world around us.
Explore:
What influences in your family background
helped shape your perspectives?
What are the rules that existed in your
family?
Which rules were stated and which were
implied?
What things were you taught to value?
How did you know what was OK to say or do?
How did you learn what not to say or do?
In order for you to overcome depression, you
will not only need to identify the key patterns that have caused
your current emotional state and behaviour, but you'll need to
develop patterns that will help you gain good feelings about
yourself and your life.
Much of what depression is about is learned.
Therefore, not only can depression be unlearned, but you can learn
how to prevent reoccurring episodes, or to manage whatever episodes
do occur more effectively so that they are less painful.
You are the way you are because that is how you
learned to be through the process of socialisation mentioned above.
That your background has led you to develop the patterns you now
have is simply a fact. The past is your past.
However, there is much you can learn to do to
change your present and your future for the better. The future is
not merely "more of the same". If you take time, as you are doing
now by reading this, to learn all the things you can about yourself
and about handling life situations more effectively, then your
depression can become a problem of the past.
If you come to THE ROAD™ Counselling & Personal
Development for Counselling and
Psychotherapy you can eliminate depression and other limiting
decisions.