Snap Out Of It!

How often have you ever found yourself saying this, SNAP OUT OF IT!  to your loved one who is depressed?  Doesn’t work. Do you know why?

It doesn’t work because of the many symptoms that make up the painful experience of depression. Fatigue is a big part of depression. The emotional war going on inside of a depressed person depletes the vital energy from a person and as everything seems hopeless the body gets the message not to even try.  The depressed finally learns that motivation follows action. To get better, the depressed has to find a reason to get help. The understanding family is the best motivation.

Family members discover they  experience many of the same feelings as the depressed!  If you checked off more than  five of the items below , you might consider the DEP-ANON FAMILY GROUP.

When family members were asked to prioritize, describe and list which feelings they experienced most often and most intensely, the following are those which they documented, from most intense to less intense.

1) Feeling overwhelmed and burdened by a family member’s depression.2) Feeling restricted around the depressed, feelings of something similar to the expression of walking on egg shells.3) Feelings of helplessness. 4) Anxiety about the situation and not knowing what to do about the feelings they were experiencing. 5) Feeling emotionally drained. 6) Feeling inadequate, faced with a loved one’s immobility and lack of motivation.7) Feeling anger and frustration at the depressed. 8) Being an enabler. 9) Feeling that one was living an unproductive life as one was stymied by the  depressed   unproductive depression. 10) Having feelings of irritability and impatience.11) Feeling inadequate. 12) Unhappy. 13) Feeling betrayed in retirement by spouse’s late life depression. 14) Indecisive and lacking confidence in themselves.

ARE YOU SURPRISED TO LEARN THAT THE DEPRESSED EXPERIENCE THE SAME EMOTIONS?  YOU HAVE MORE IN COMMON THAT YOU THOUGHT!

SOURCE: (COPYRIGHT)  DEP-ANON FAMILY GROUP MANUAL: The 12 step support group for family and friends of the depressed.  DEPRESSED  ANONYMOUS PUBLICATIONS. LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

4 thoughts on “Snap Out Of It!”

  1. So difficult these SX. Example, went to a simple fundraising night at the races at my parish church, it was fun, nice meal more salty snacks then I usually eat, drank several cups of good coffee, from 6-11 pm, next day I was a zombie, could hardly get dressed to walk two blocks for Sunday Paper
    Late next afternoon. That’s the
    Price I pay for a simple evening of”overdoing it” that is why i must wisely choose any event lasting more than one hour. Very sad, and I am fairly stable, I have to be careful every thing I eat and all
    I do.

    1. Good hearing from you. I think once we become aware of what keeps us down–we will see these desires as red flags in the future and so change our behavior(s). That is what works for me.
      Thank you for sharing.

Leave a Reply to rhaniacker Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.