If you are constantly depressed you should consult your doctor. He may be able to help more than you suppose. But do not stop at this. This is first aid for an emergency, not treatment for a cure.
What is depression? What are its
causes? How can you find freedom? These
are the urgent questions that need an answer. Depression is basically – self –
hate. “If that is so”, you may ask, “why do I hate myself”? The answer is
simple. You hate yourself because you dare not hate the other person. Why is this?
you are dependent on the very person you would otherwise hate. That is the
reason.
Advt
Depression is a kind of conjuring
trick enacted in the emotions. All the forces of aggression that go into your
murderous hate a hate that you must
admit even to yourself . As a
result, you loathe and detest yourself.
In every one of us there is the
central self ( the self of everyday life), by which we consciously make
decisions. Beneath the surface of the mind two others selves operate. The
hungry self demands its rights voraciously. The condemning self attacks the
demands of the hungry self, and punishes it for its greed. When the condemning self is in charge of the
Personality depression occurs.
The condemning self is the voice of
restrictive parent or parent substitute that has beaten the infant into
submission. Consequently, the authority of the inner parent has become the
ruling voice in the person’s character. The condemning self (the inner parent)
is in control and so matter how urgently the hungry self seeks for fulfilment,
life and love, the condemning self within makes such fulfilment clearly
impossible. This breeds hate which cannot be expressed. Then agonies of
depression result. Guilt, self – hate, remorse, hopelessness, all provide
secret gratification for those who are not emotionally free. At the very
extreme, very often a suicide is committed in a double ecstasy of self – hate
and self – pity.
Why does depression persist even though circumstances
change for the better? We are emotionally committed to our guilt and grief.
This emotional pattern is “home” to us, and any other way of life seems
strange. Is there a way out? Of course there is! But sometimes this is not
acceptable to the depressive sufferer. A person in the clutches of depression
insists on dictating his own way out, and his own way always carefully retains
his depression pattern of emotions.
Psychotherapy offers reliable help.
In the case of those for whom this is impossible, I give these indications.
From experience I know they are of the utmost value.
The core of depression is self –
hate. You are chained to the pattern of your infant past. Only if you are
prepared to break emotionally from this pattern of self – condemnation within,
can you become free. You must recognize the fight between the hungry self and
the condemning self. Only when your central self unites with the hungry self
can you gain supremacy over the condemning self and become free.
If you leave depression land you must
decide where you are heading. You must know the nature and geography of the
country of your new home. Think, feel, thrill to the thought of your adventure.
Stop your indulgence in useless remorse. Accept your infinite potential! Enjoy
being you! Make new experiments in living and defy the constricting condemnations
of the out of date inner parent. Do this and you will surmount depression, and
start a new era of happiness.
