[Journey-Man]

One of the hardest things about depression is that the "demons" which seem to haunt your moment to moment experience are not those of some other voice, but come from your own very cognitions. We personalize not just our cognitions, but we personalize our emotional states or mood.

We often speak as if we are some kind of autonomous unified whole, and all of these things are happening to you. This seems to correspond to our experience as well, and it seems as if there is a little person in our heads feeling all of these things in vivid detail like a theater of the mind.

The problem with this, and indeed the reality that people with mental illnesses and disorders come to experience is that we are not as consciously in control of our thoughts, behaviors and moods as we would like to think. What we have instead is an evolutionary ancient system which is common to mammals called the Limbic System. This neurophysiological structure in the brain is what allowed for the emergence of more complex social interaction between organisms, and it turns out that moods both high and low have utility towards survival. The Prefrontal Cortex which is intimately woven into the Limbic System is the most recent evolutionary "achievement," I like to call it the "thinky-thinky part." Though this is not like Descartes idea that man is a "rational self" which is in the mind operating by some Free Will and can overcome emotion with reason.

The fact that the Prefrontal Cortex is intimately woven into the Limbic System is what causes the connection between our moods and cognitions to become so negatively intertwined and leads to a downward spiral. We are at bottom, deeply emotional beings and some people are more naturally emotional than others and of course Depression enhances our emotional experience. This enhancement comes of course in the context of a low mood, in which negativity, pain, anxiety, and overall lack of motivation are disproportionately increased.

It becomes easy to see that when you have low mood which feeds into an abysmal experience of pain and anxiety that this can lead to behavioral issues, and that is where the trouble really begins, because once the brain learns behaviors like avoidance.. they can be hard to break.

However, there are ways to reverse the spiral and in my treatment and studies I've come to find that Mindfulness Meditation is exceptional in addressing the underlying problems which not only perpetuate depression, but cause it. Having nonjudgmental awareness actually activates the Pre-frontal cortex and helps get the amygdala under control. Even saying, "ah, I'm anxious right now," gets the necessary functions in your brain which help balance your emotional responses. This can be used for nearly anything, from anxiety to motivation, observing "hmm in my current mood I don't really feel motivated at all." Noticing in this way gets the OrbitoPrefrontal Cortex in gear, but there is I have found a second piece to this.

When you have observed your anxiety or your lack of motivation, do not let your focus be maintained on that observation but proceed with what you need to do in the here and now. The Anterior Cingulate Cortext which is part of the system which manages your attention will respond to your Prefrontal Cortex rather than just reacting to the heightened responses of the Amygdala, and will help you get away from those negative emotions and cognitions.

TL;DR You are not your emotional state, nor your cognitions, these are not aspects of reality but emergent functions of the brain (particularly your depressed brain which is stuck in a downward spiral). Take a deep breath, recognize what is happening without judgment, and then bring attention back to what is happening in the present. Have compassion on yourself.

[Skeezyks]

"In other traditions demons are expelled externally. Burt in my tradition demons are accepted with compassion." (Machig Labdron, 11th Century, Tibet)

[kkrrhh]

Thank you for this reminder. I had been seeing these benefits from getting more into mindfulness the past few months, but have been falling out of habit recently. I'm going to be sure to do a bit of meditating tonight.

[Fuzzybear]

[MommaD]

Great post Journey Man