Stick to the plan! This is especially relevant for those of us who try and live one day at a time. I have found that by doing the same thing everyday, and in the same place everyday, that this in itself will provide the incentive to keep doing the next right thing. Doing the next right thing will be the motivating power to get moving on our own recovery. For many of us, we have found that we have an established plan for our recovery in the HOME STUDY PROGRAM. Without a doubt, I have found that once we have felt a strong need to move out of the isolating deadness of depression, we no longer have to wait for something to happen, be that with a prescribed medication or a twice a month or monthly therapy visit. What do we do in the meantime with all this pain? What do we do til the medications kick in? Everyone knows that nothing happens over night. But something can happen when we do the same thing over and over again, every day, Once we commit ourselves to the belief that something good can happen, especially with a concrete plan laid out before us, then change can happen. I know. Been there done that.
The Fellowship of Depressed Anonymous has developed an excellent toolkit for those of us who want a daily plan — a way to take our recovery a step at a time. We no longer have to wait to see if something happens, either with a medication or a therapy session. Don’t get me wrong, these are all possible routes to recovery, but why not do something that works in the meantime? There is a way out and the HOME STUDY PROGRAM provides just the right tools to give us insights as to how we got where we are today, namely depressed, and then provides ongoing insights for leaving our depression behind.
The two great resources in our “toolbox” is the Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition manual. This is the book written by those of us who were depressed and who wrote out our own reflections for each one of the 12 Steps. This exercise took 12 weeks of discussion by our newly formed Depressed Anonymous group –no psychobabble here –just people like you and me sharing how the Steps had freed us from the bondage of isolation and despair.
Because not everyone was able to have a Depressed Anonymous fellowship in their community we saw a critical need for this Depressed Anonymous program of recovery to be used by any and all who were committed to leaving the prison of their depression. It was later that we developed The Depressed Anonymous Workbook that is used in conjunction with the DA Manual. So that is how the HOME STUDY kit was developed. A person, possibly like yourself, can utilize a daily plan of action not only to help understand the nature of the depression process but it likewise can help you answer questions about your own experiences. The two works, in combination, will enable you to clarify your own thoughts about how you got where you are today and then using the Steps to get where you want to be — depression free. Let’s be honest here, we all know that if we want to get out of the depression isolation it will take work and time.
To find out more about a program that works please visit the store and find out how to order this “toolkit” of recovery. You might also want to check our website to see if there is a group near you.
Stick to the plan! Do the next right thing. Get involved in your own recovery. You can do it. Just do it!
SOURCES: Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition.(2011) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.
The Depressed Anonymous Workbook. (2011) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.
Believing is seeing: 15 ways to leave the prison of depression. (2015) Depressed Anonymous
Publications Louisville.