How Come Depression is so Pervasive Now?

By Gary Tartaglia

A major source of stress for many of my clients this holiday season (and well into the new year) is how they cope with their overwhelming feelings of depression, sadness, anxiety, anger or resentment. Many people feel stuck and don't know what to do!

The Big Three Unhealthy Ways most people cope with their pain or hurt, especially this time of year, is to: Get Drunk; Get High; or Act Out sexually. Of course, these three ways are all forms of self-destruction and self-sabotage, and are Not Healthy! Unfortunately, that doesn't stop people from doing them! They self-destruct, because they either don't care; or don't realize they have choices!

As a psychotherapist specializing in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for the past 16 years, I know that the average person has over 5,000 thoughts in their head daily. Most clients have a very high percentage of negative thoughts in their heads daily, many as high as 80-90%! Depression is so common that 12% of men and 20% of women will suffer major depression at some time in their lives.

What many clients don't realize is it is NOT events, or people, in life that causes emotional reactions in us, but our interpretation of these events or people! This is called the A-B-C Model of Emotions; it goes like this:

• A = the facts of the situation (what a camera would see)
• C = our emotional reactions, body sensations and behaviors

Many people believe falsely that A = C!

This is false!

• B = our interpretation that we give to the situation

Often, we see the situation (A) and the reaction (C), but are unaware of our interpretation (B). We think the situation itself caused our emotional and physical reactions, when in fact, it was our interpretation of the situation!

This is proof that negative thoughts play a leading role in depression. Our mood is strongly shaped by our thoughts. Research has shown there is more to the story. Not only can thoughts affect mood, but in those of us who get depressed, mood can affect thoughts in ways that can make them an already low mood – even lower. This creates the "downward spiral" that leads to self-destruction and self-sabotage.

If you have a high percentage of negative thoughts on a daily basis, they can be so ingrained that sometimes the negative thoughts that lead to depression can be triggered emotionally by sadness so fleeting, or minimal, that the person experiencing it is hardly aware of it.

No wonder so many of us feel we can pull ourselves out of the abyss, no matter how hard we try. We have no idea where the descent began!

When we try to figure out ourselves, we often get dragged down further. That's because we need to know the anatomy of depression and its four (4) key dimensions: feelings; thoughts; body sensations; and behaviors. It's important to take a holistic viewpoint to see the complete picture.

When we feel depressed, we get overwhelmed with feelings, thoughts, physical body sensations and irrational behaviors. Depression usually centers around loss, separation, rejection, or any reversal that brings a sense of humiliation or perceived defeat. Our disturbing emotions are an important part of life, for they act as a signal we are in perceived danger. When overwhelmed, our negative thinking generates tension, aches, pains, fatigue and turmoil. These, in turn, feed more negative thinking; the depression gets worse, and with it, the hurt and pain.

We only compound our feelings of depletion if we deal with them by giving up activities that normally nourish us, like getting together with friends and family, who are our support system.

As you can see, it's not difficult to see how feelings, thoughts, physical sensations and behaviors are all part of depression. When we get depressed, it gets much harder to make choices, let alone healthy choices. What's harder to see is how any one part of the anatomy of depression can trigger the "downward spiral of depression."

What we don't realize is that all the components of depression (feelings, thoughts, sensations and behaviors), or any one of them feeds into the others and reinforces the others. By this holistic process, our depression or sadness gets stronger and stronger. That is the point where most people come into therapy for professional help.

FEEDBACK: CLICK HERE to email comments and feedback. Please note the title of the article or the author's name. Include your own name or type "name withheld" by request. Thoughtful responses will be published in our next edition.