Another trick to dealing with depression:

There is evidence that beliefs (cognitive vulnerabilities) and goals (to prove self-worth) contribute to depression but little consideration of how they work in tandem. Synthesizing research on beliefs and goals leads us to four propositions: (a) People with cognitive vulnerabilities often adopt self-worth goals (seeking to prove self-worth and to avoid proof of worthlessness). People with the opposite beliefs often adopt learning goals. (b) Stressors trigger depression largely because they lead people with self-worth goals to focus narrowly on goals to avoid proof of worthlessness. The same stressors do not lead people with learning goals to become depressed. (c) People with goals to avoid proof of worthlessness adopt defensive self-handicapping behaviors (e.g., effort withdrawal, rumination) when dealing with stressors, because those behaviors serve their goals. The same stressors lead people with learning goals to adopt constructive, problem-solving strategies. (d) A key to alleviating depression is fostering a shift from self-worth goals to learning goals and from the beliefs underlying self-worth goals to the opposite beliefs.

Source: How goals and beliefs lead people into and out of depression.from Review of General Psychology - Vol 13, Iss 4 by Rothbaum, Fred; Morling, Beth; Rusk, Natalie

I think this technique could be really powerful.

For an in-depth and very personal history of depression, I recommend this book.

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about 1 year ago Monica responded:

I'm somewhat of an expert on the subject, and I'm currently doing some research on if and (if so) how goal setting and goal oriented behaviors affect depression.

In response to the first poster, I think the difference is in the first one, the goal is vague and so it can morph and remorph according to the depressed person's current experience. And part of depression is turning every thought and wish into a negative emotional trap. It's also outcome based, so that there is little or no gratification during the process.

With learning based goals, there is usually a behavioral description, and any health care provider will tell you that treatment plans, in mental health areas anyway, are described in behavioral terms, what do you see yourself doing, what do you want to see happen....The other aspect of this is that, provided the goal is something important to that individual, and not what someone else wants you to do, there is reward in the process on two levels: 1. you have concrete ways of seeing your progress and you can measure how far you've gotten towards your goal and 2: there is enjoyment of the activity that you're learning, an element of play, intrinsic reward, so that you find yourself going out of your way to work toward that goal. With this comes a state called "flow," which means that the brain is "turned on" to and by that activity, and during that time, awareness of passage of time and surroundings fades to the far background. Research has shown that this state can produce a state of deep mental relaxation similar to what we get in deep sleep; it is restorative on so many levels to have something that you get completely engrossed in.

In my opinion, depression is a condition best treated by a multiple dimension approach. It is in part brain chemistry, but that brain chemistry is affected by our thoughts which lead to emotional states which lead to certain chemicals getting produced and sent to other parts of the body like the adrenal glands, liver and digestive system, to name a few.

Barking up the wrong tree

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