Depressed Spirit or Depression?


It is not unusual to feel sad, blue or depressed from time to time.  Sadness is a normal reaction to loss, life's struggles, or injured self-esteem or body.  Sometimes, however, these feelings are so continually intense that they interfere with one's ability to think, work, eat, sleep, enjoy being with others, or care for him or herself. If that is the case, maybe they suffer from Clinical Depression and are not just on a down slide in their life.  Depression can seem worse than terminal cancer, because most cancer patients have self worth,  hope and feel loved.  Those suffering from depression often feel none of these.

What is Clinical Depressive Disorder?

Clinical depressive disorder is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts.  It affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself and the way one thinks about external stimuli like friends, family and social activities.  The disorder is not the same as a passing blue mood.  It is a not a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be willed or wished away.  People with a depressive illness cannot merely "pull themselves together" to get better.  Clinical depression is a medical condition, that without treatment,  can have symptoms that last for weeks, months, or years.  Appropriate treatment, however, can help most people who suffer from depression.

How You Can Help - The Butterfly Response

Every flap of the wing of a butterfly, as small as it is, can make a difference in the current of the air that carries it.  Like a butterfly, your every word or action carries with it the power to harm or bless the life of the people you come into contact with.

When considering the impact of our actions in those term, does it sound like an enormous responsibility?  It does to me.

There is a but... I do wholly believe we are, as individuals, responsible for the messages we give, but only in so much as it does not carry with it the intent to harm another person.  We are not solely responsible for the interpretations and response of our messages, whether they be verbal, visual, auditory, or spiritually.  The listener is also responsible for the what, who, why, where, when, and how information is absorbed and used. Like a butterfly in a breeze... they, too, can choose to ride the waves of the air surrounding it or flap its wings in a set direction.  Response is a choice and it is these choices that keep us on the road to a healthy body, mind and spirit.  Life carries a personal accountability to choose what our response is to all incoming information the same as it does for all out going actions.

If this is true then why do we need to be mindful of our actions if others are responsible for their response to them?  A person dealing with a depressed state of mind often hasn't the strength, energy or even the knowledge of how to deal with the negative influences put upon them by others.  I like to think of having the blues or depression as having a bruised or wounded spirit.  If you flick a bruise it hurts a lot more than if you flick a healthy patch of skin.

So my message is...  we don't have to take ownership of how other respond to us, but we can radiate our own energy, optimism, and enthusiasm to help positively impact the life experiences of those we come into contact with.  Who knows, maybe what you say and do will help heal that bruised spirit, instead of making it worse.

Just a thought....