Hi. It’s Wednesday.
How are you feeling today? Did you wake up
happy and excited, looking forward to the day? What was your first thought when
you woke up, that first, fleeting feeling between sleep and wake? Did you smile
and wallow in it for a sec? Or did you groan and push it to the back burner?
Major depression is, according to the
Anxiety and Depression Association of America, the leading cause of disability
for people ages 15-44, affecting 14.8
million adults each year. A milder, chronic depression called dysthmic
disorder (off and on depression for at least two years) gets 3.3 million of us each year. But
anxiety disorders are by far the most prevalent, affecting 40 million adults each year, and costing the American people $42
billion.
There’s some cross diagnosis going on, and
statistics are only well researched guesses; but I’d say it’s safe to say that
some 58 million of us, or 26%, are
depressed. That’s slightly more than one out of every four people you meet.
That’s epidemic; pandemic even, bigger
than the Black Plague or the Asian Flu. That’s not right, and I think we all
know it. I think we also all know that this depression epidemic isn’t going to
just go away, like a virus running its course as it evolves into something
different.
Perhaps
you work with or know one of these one-out-of-four people whose life is
impounded by depression, or you live with someone, or you are one. If not, you probably wouldn’t be reading this.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say
that there’s not something clinically wrong with 58 million of our brains, but
that there’s something chronically- and epidemically - wrong with our thinking,
both as individuals and as a society. And
since I’m out here, I’m going to say with conviction that our thinking has
created a world of depression for us to live in and think about; and that this pandemic depression is both
symptom and cause of our society.
For instance, in 1967, the ‘official’ top
ten stressors in life, as determined by researchers – not me - were recognized as: death of a spouse - divorce - marriage
separation - jail term - death of a close relative - injury or illness - marriage - loss of job - marriage
reconciliation - retirement.
In 2001, less than two generations later, the
list looked like this: death of a spouse - jail sentence - death of immediate family member - getting into debt beyond means of repayment - period of homelessness - immediate family member seriously ill - unemployment - divorce -
and break up of family.
In 2014, I think we can safely add to that
list: polluted air, water, and food – an economy that doesn’t support 99% of
us – major world climate change and mass extinction – depression pandemic.
The point is that life’s major stressors
visit all of us at some point. Some of these – like death and marriage and
natural disaster – are ‘normal’ life stressors. An increasing number of stressors – unemployment, pollution,
homelessness, hopeless debt, depression pandemic - can be directly linked to
the world we live in, which can be pretty depressing.
AND YET, NOT EVERYONE IS DEPRESSED. So maybe it’s safe to say that depression doesn’t spring from the
stressors in our lives, but from the way we think about the stressors in our
lives.
Maybe you’re not depressed, and don’t even know anyone who is. I’m happy for
you, but consider this: before clinical
depression sets in, there’s a seed from which it grows – some kind of stress or
discomfort or denial or something. It doesn’t have to turn into depression. But there is a pandemic going on, and there is a preventative.
When we hear that there’s a flu pandemic
going on, we all wash our hands, and seek out our favored preventatives – flu
shots, vitamins, hand sanitizer, or immune building herbs and exercise. When it
comes to flu or fleas, we’re all about prevention.
When it comes to depression, however, the
tendency is to deny it – either in ourselves or our loved ones - until it’s too late; and then drug it. Although
modern medicine has come pretty far in the treatment of depression, depression
is still at an all time high. We have to ask ourselves, then, how’s that
treatment working for us?
There
is an effective preventative for depression, readers. It’s free. It’s safe
and without side effects. It’s available to everyone, right now, and it works.
It is (drum roll here)
RIGHT THINKING
Yes, you’re right: It’s easier said than
done, but it’s a whole world easier
than being depressed, or drugged, or drugged and depressed, which often seems to be the medical treatment
scenario. I know this from personal experience.
I wasn’t alone when I walked that right
thinking road right out of major clinical depression. Should
you choose to walk it, you won’t be alone, either. I’m passionate in my
desire to pass along what I’ve learned about right thinking, and to share my
tools and techniques; which, in turn will be shared by those who learn them.
We’ve thought our way into this world of
depression together, and we can think our way out.
Together, we can seed a pandemic of right
thinking and ultimate happiness.
I’m in. How about you?
©Melissa Falls 2014
