Depression is the product of your thoughts. Your thoughts trigger emotions. The emotions trigger physical discomfort. The discomfort triggers the unproductive behaviour.

If you are depressed, you are stuck in this loop forever. The first step to overcome depression is to understand the faulty thought process which is the root cause of endless misery. Even though this negative thought process has started in a naïve and non harmful way, today it acquired a giant form where you feel it is the new normal.

If you are depressed or if your friend is depressed, the depressed mind does not know that the thought process is distorted.

Here is the list for you to first recognise what it is:

1.Zero or One game:

Whenever I ask my mom, “What time is it now?” She replies “5’oclock.” The actual time would have been 4:45 PM. She never replies the correct time. For her time exists only in intervals of 30 minutes. Similarly, for a depressed mind, it is either a win or lose. They never care about the percentage of good in the game.

2.Palmistry

My dad does not like black clothes. On the day of festival, if I wear a dress, which has a black dot on it, he says “Why are you wearing black clothes on a festival day?” One small black dot makes it a black dress.

My dad owns a magnifying glass through which he could see the entire dress as black.

A depressed mind needs just one obstacle to call his project a failure. By doing that

• He is looking at his life through a magnifying lens. He is looking at a simple obstacle as a very big obstacle which will make him fail in the project
• He is jumping to a conclusion that his project has already failed

He is a palm reader where he uses a magnifying glass to foresee his future from the lines on his palm.

Negative prediction huh?

3.Tinted glasses

When you wear blue shades, the entire world looks blue. You can’t change the colour of objects. You can only remove your glasses to look at them in a normal way.

4.It’s me

“I woke up early today. Hence the city is flooded.”
Logic and reasoning just goes down the drain.
“My friend is not texting me. I must have angered him”
Whatever happens, you think the world revolves around you.

5.Who is responsible?

“He should have done that.”
“I should not have asked him to do that.”
This type of should statements make you feel frustrated and resentful towards life.

6.I am no good
 
“You look so beautiful in this saree.”  You let it go by saying “It is the saree, not me, which is beautiful.”
Sorry to say, but you are not being humble there. You are disqualifying the compliment. You are good. Trust me when I say this. Don’t shrug it off.

7.Give names

“I am an idiot”
“He is a jerk”
There are other good things about you. You don’t become an idiot just because you screwed up one event. Don’t describe inaccurately and give names.

How many of the above do you do? How are you planning to stop it?

Your depression is in your thoughts. Change them to better your life!

Happy changing your thoughts!