“I WANNA BE FREE”
Today were going to introduce you to the Home Study Program or Kit, as it is sometimes called, a program utilizing the Depressed Anonymous Manual, 3rd edition (2011) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville and The Depressed Anonymous Workbook (2001). Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.
Included in this self help Home Study program is utilizing the Depressed Anonymous Workbook, with the coordinated Depressed Anonymous Manual. Examples of this process will be illustrated today as we begin our abbreviated Home Study Program here at our website. Our intention is to give the reader a sampling of the process of how to use the Workbook and the Manual.
The idea of using a self help Home Study program is to help people who do not have a face to face Depressed Anonymous group in their home area. We believe that to begin a self-study program, in the privacy of one’s own home, treatment facility or hospital, or with a good friend–all these encounters can be a valuable tool for those who want to begin helping themselves. We also have persons from around the world utilizing this format for their personal recovery.
The Depressed Anonymous Home Study program can provide an individual with a step-by-step plan of action giving individuals the freedom from the pain and isolation of depression . The shackles of our interminable sadness can be broken by the power and nature of the 12 Spiritual principles of the 12 Steps. The beauty of the Home Study program is that you work at your own speed and give yourself the time to reflect and absorb material from the Workbook questions as you make your own unique responses. Simultaneously, pertinent information on the Workbook sections will be correlated to sections located in the Manual.
In the coming days we will acquaint the reader with the process of working the 12 steps by using the question and answer format. These same few questions are used in the Workbook. These will give you an idea of how the Home Study program is processed. Again, what will appear here will be a small sampling from each of the 12 steps of Depressed Anonymous, utilizing material from both Manual and Workbook. Each Step will include a pertinent reference from the Manual to a subject raised in the question section. You will provide your own answers to the Workbook questions and reflect upon your own depression experience. Gradually, step by step, you will build a recovery plan as you become familiar with the process as laid out here on our website. The Home Study program is designed to lead you deeper into the reasons/causes that brought you to Depressed Anonymous initially.
“In this natural world one of the first laws is that all growth is gradual”. This is a marathon not a sprint!
Our motive here at our website is to help one get started in familiarizing you with the process of using this 12 Step Home Study program.
Let’s begin with Step one. “We admitted that we were powerless over depression – that our lives have become unmanageable.”
This is Step One of Depressed Anonymous.
“It is our purpose in this Workbook to reflect on some of the ways which we can admit we are depressed and begin digging out one step at a time.
In our Manual Depressed Anonymous it states that:
“You have to admit that you’re powerless over this depressed behavior and likewise admit that your life is unmanageable.” You don’t want to go on living this way. In fact, some days you feel that you just want to lie down and die, but deep inside you there is that Spirit, call it God, Higher Power, or whatever, that keeps you searching for a way out. A part of you is still hanging on and giving you hope to try to live through the pain of hopelessness and isolation. You just know there has got to be something out there that would give you at least a glimmer of hope. This part of you has been competing for years, with those other parts of you that say “end it all,” “give it up – you’ll never feel better,” or words “you’re losing your mind and you can’t go through all this for another day” appear to be winning the battle.” Depressed Anonymous Manual, Pages 32-33.
The Depressed Anonymous Workbook, reviewing Step One states:
One of the major reasons for this Workbook is that it can lead us to serenity and establish positive directions for life. If we really are serious about leaving our pit of despair and depression and wanting to do something positive about it, we will have to take the bull by the horns and get serious about our own life. I’m willing right now to decide to give the 12 step program a whirl. I want to feel differently. I have nothing to lose but my depression and my fear of what might replace it when it is gone!
From what I hear from the other members of the group I have nothing to fear but my fear. I know it sounds simple – because it is. Depression clouds, complicates and confuses our reality. So, the final line is this – we know we are not alone. We are together with others who understand and who know the feeling of sadness and depression.
What good is it to admit that our depression has made us feel powerless? I already know that you might say “that is why I’ve spent thousands of dollars on hospitals, doctors, counselors and drugs!” But really for a person to admit that their powerlessness is what gives us new power -– paradoxically. It’s like letting go of a death grip on our continued sadness that made the sadness grow and thrive. But somehow – again I don’t know how it all works – when I am defeated, deflated and down and have the 12 steps in the fellowship at my side there is like a small ray of light starting to shine in my mind and heart. It’s like saying, I’ve had it this way all my life – now I’ll try it your way! Okay here’s a game plan.
Now, today you have the choice of no longer being alone. You cannot go to the rest your life alone and if you do you may stay depressed. Know what we are asking you to do is get involved with our Depressed Anonymous group and begin to work the Steps. Start now. Today we can begin to change in the way we think, feel and act. We no longer have to feel that we are beat and down for the count. The word powerless describes the feeling all of us feel when we were depressed. We just felt that since we were told we had this chemical imbalance that there was nothing we could do for ourselves but take medication and talk with a psychiatrist.
It is really the being “sick and tired” of being “sick and tired” that gets us to go for help. When I feel powerless, I feel ashamed that I am depressed and I think that I can’t do anything about my depression. I want to feel differently and so what I do is to try and feel better about myself. My shame of not being in control has paradoxically placed me in more of a state of powerlessness, and feeling hopeless and helpless.
Now, please comment on the next passage from our Workbook which states: “That’s the way it is with depression — over the years you get comfortable with feeling miserable, which doesn’t mean you like it, but that you’re just too afraid to risk feeling different…” (M35 )
QUESTION 1. 2 Can you relate to that and if so please write out your comments. (Use a separate notebook for all your answers).
What I intend today is to write down some thoughts about the following quote:
“Now that I have admitted I’m having a difficult time living, I want to learn some new avenues that will make my life more enjoyable and much more livable. ” Workbook/ Page 7.
QUESTION: 1.13 How often do you feel that because of your depression your life is unmanageable? Workbook /Page 9.
End of the Home Study Program/Kit for today. Please come back as we share more thoughts about the Home Study Program. Also, you can start this program today if you wish. The Publisher offers an eBook format of the Home Study Program which can be downloaded onto one’s computer if that version is more suitable for you.
_______________________________________________________________
So for today, you have been given a very brief introduction to the Home Study Program or kit. We will continue to post brief summaries from the DA Workbook and the DA Manual to provide you with hope that there is freedom possible here for your leaving the prison of depression. I know–been there and done that!
If you want to learn more about the literature that is offered for those interested in using the 12 Steps for freedom from depression please VISIT THE STORE here at our website www.depressedanon.com. Online orders are accepted. You can also contact us here or at our email address: [email protected]