Rethinking Depression: Help for Those Who Are Struggling

Do you think you may be depressed?

2020 has been a difficult year and certainly depression has been on the rise as many are feeling isolated and alone. Instead of things feeling better at Christmas, the holidays will often make depression feel heavier and harder to bear. If you have ever struggled with a bout of depression you know how hard this is and how hopeless it can feel. The CDC estimates 23 million Americans struggle with depression at any given time. So, you are not alone.

In this blog I’d love to give you some help for improving your depression.   

To start us off, here’s one thing you can change: You can get rid of the ANTS in your head. ANTS is an acronym for automatic negative thoughts. We all wrestle with automatic negative thoughts from time to time, but if you are struggling with depression you will experience a lot of negative thoughts taking up residence in your brain. Thoughts like, “I don’t belong”, “I am not very smart”, “no one cares about me”, “nothing I do matters”, and many other negative thoughts create an internal loop which repeats over and over in your mind. Take a moment and see if you can identify any automatic negative thoughts that ruminate in your brain. 

Once you identify the negative thoughts, how do you stop them? How do we exterminate the ANTS? Frankly, it doesn’t work very well to just try hard to not think about specific negative thoughts. It is kind of like someone telling you not to think about a purple elephant … you can’t help but think about purple elephants. Instead, we need to recognize when the negative thoughts pop up (because they will) and after telling your brain to “stop it,” put all of your focus on something else. Focus on something you know to be true and good and that can overshadow the negative. Keep your mind on the good thoughts as long as possible in a very deliberate way. Essentially, you eliminate the ANTS by replacing them. 

Allow me to help with some of your replacement thoughts. Here are four positive “life truths” I believe are essential to living your life in a healthy and truthful way. I want to challenge you to print them out and read these four truths daily. (Side note: The first two truths are true for every human being. The second two become true as a person gives their life to God asking for His forgiveness and for Him to be in control of their life.) My hope is that these four truths will sink into the deepest parts of your heart, mind and soul. Here they are:

1) You are loved by God. You matter to Him. He likes you and He is for you.

2) Your life has purpose. God has uniquely created and gifted you to make a difference in this world. Your life matters.

3) You can breathe. God is in control. Whatever is troubling you is not too big to handle if you turn it over to God and allow Him to help you.

4) You are forgiven. When you entrust your life to Him and ask Him to forgive all your sins, failures and shortcomings – He will forgive you. So, each and every day is a fresh new start.

I deeply believe these four truths are true of you personally, individually and specifically. Take a moment and read them again slowly. These are absolute core truths of life. As you come to believe and own these truths, I would recommend that you begin to personalize them as you read them each day. For example, “I am loved by God,” “My life has purpose,” “I can breathe,” “I am forgiven,” “I entrust my life to you,” etc.

Don’t let the ANTS overtake you. Fight back, take the negative thoughts captive and replace them with these life-giving truths that God says are true about you. And remember, the staff here at The Renewing Life Center is always here to help you on this journey.