Depression: Friend or Foe?
Posted: Friday, February 15, 2008
by Aphrodite Matsakis
http://www.matsakis.com
Most of us view depression as a mental illness. According to the well-known psychologist, Karl Jung, however, there are instances where depression can be a friend not a foe. For some people, he points out, depression may be a means to rest and replenish themselves after a period of overexertion. As a therapist once commented to a woman who had just left an abusive relationship, "After all you've been though, why wouldn't you be depressed?" Just as wise farmers periodically and purposely keep fields fallow for a season so the soil has time to renew itself, so the psyche may cause an individual to slow down into a state of depression for purposes of internal regeneration. A bout of depression can also be a sign that it is time to reevaluate one's life and priorities.
Depression is a normal part of the grieving process. Following the loss of a cherished person or pet, periods of depression are to be expected. However depression can also be a form of grieving for a lost or undeveloped part of the self. For example, in some instances successful professional and business people who become depressed at midlife may be grieving a lack of fulfillment in areas unrelated to work. Perhaps their success required that they set aside their interest in sports, music, friends or other parts of their lives so that they could focus on their career.
Similarly, dedicated parents often find that their commitment to their children requires sacrifices in other areas of life. However once success has been achieved or children have grown and left home, these other parts of the self may begin to clamor for attention. In fact, they can put up such a temper tantrum that they cause the rest of the system to shut down or function at a less than optimal level so that their voices might be heard.
In Jung's view a woman whose heart lays in domesticity or in other traditionally feminine pursuits can easily become depressed if she must set these aside in order to meet the demands of her job or career. Depression can also develop if a woman enters the work force not because she truly wants to work outside the home, but primarily to avoid being viewed as a pathetic "unliberated" relic of the past. Depression in such cases, Jung writes, could be lessened if the woman is honest with herself, acknowledges her more traditional interests and then has the courage to pursue them, regardless of whether or not she is devalued by others for her choices. Similarly, the stay-at-home woman with needs in addition to being a mother, homemaker, or caretaker of aging relatives can become depressed in response to the stagnation of her intellectual, social and achievement needs.
Hence depression may be a way for underdeveloped, suppressed or entirely new longings and talents to assert themselves. Underneath the depression may be a desire to be creative or to ponder weighty matters such as the meaning of life or the nature of one's identity. Not only Jung, but a growing body of research, suggest that when a depression leads to fruitful introspection, rather than painful ruminations or despair, it can aptly be labeled a type of "creative isolation" that constitutes the first step towards discovering new potentials and finding new sources of inner strength, joy and purpose.
In sum, if you are suffering from some signs of depression, it may be that certain aspects of yourself are mourning their lack of self-expression. Or perhaps you simply need time to think about your life or to examine spiritual issues. On a more simple level, if you are someone who works very hard, your depression may reflect your inner child's rebellion against your ambitious work schedule. The depression may be a way to force you to put balance in your life and respect your legitimate needs for rest, contact with others, recreation, "down time" and introspection.
It can not be overemphasized, however, that not all depressions can be viewed in such a positive light. Indeed, unlike the "blues" which are a normal part of the human experience, clinical depression can be a devastating psychological disorder. Left untreated, a vicious negative cycle can easily develop as follows:
The initial fatigue and sense of hopelessness that are the two essential characteristics of depression lead to difficulties functioning at work and at home. As one of my clients states, "The smallest task seems like a monumental chore and you can't concentrate enough to read a newspaper article, much less a book. You can't make it to work, or it's a struggle to get there. You take the phone off the hook. Indecision plagues you and you start feeling guilty about every little thing."
Such difficulties usually result in lowered self-esteem and in a sense of panic about not being able to function as well as usual. These self doubts and fears, however, easily can lead to social, emotional and mental withdrawal and aggravate the sleeping, sexual, concentration and other problems associated with clinical depression. This increase in symptoms, in turn, can result in an even greater loss of self-confidence and even stronger feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. These, in turn, can create additional problems at home and at work, which only further increase withdrawal, sleeping and concentration problems, which can then generate even more self-doubts, pessimism, anxiety, and so forth.
This negative vicious cycle can cascade into long term severe despair and impairment, even to the point of suicide. Some people may not actively commit suicide but kill themselves slowly by ignoring major medical problems, by putting themselves in harm's way or by abusing alcohol, drugs or food.
There are also important differences between depressions caused by the lack of fulfillment of a certain talent or part of the self and those resulting from biochemical imbalances, serious or chronic physical illness, traumatic experiences or ongoing severe economic, family or other stresses. All depressions, regardless of their cause, need medical and mental health attention. However such care is particularly urgent for these latter types of depression where life's circumstances have literally beaten the will out of a person or where family history or illness suggests biological contributions to the depression.
Nevertheless, recent research has found that even in some instances of trauma or stress related depression, certain positive personality characteristics can emerge. The following discussion of these possible positive outcomes is not an attempt to sugar-coat the painful consequences of having experienced a major financial or personal loss or a trauma such family violence, assault, combat or a natural catastrophe. Neither is it an attempt to make it seem as if "everything is fine." If someone has been raped or been in a war or a fire, everything isn't fine, but that doesn't mean that they didn't acquired certain strengths and insights as the result of their sufferings.
Furthermore, the people who report some positive outcome have tended to be those fortunate enough to have had access to some degree of adequate emotional, mental health, and medical support, not those whose health, relationships or careers were almost entirely devastated by their hardships. In addition, to say that some people have experienced some positive benefits because of their emotional and physical pain doesn't mean that they got back everything they lost as the result of their ordeals. They can never be the person they were before they went through whatever injustices or horrors they experienced and some areas of their lives may be permanently scarred by their experiences. In other areas, however, they may have achieved a degree of satisfaction, happiness and emotional or spiritual growth that might have never been possible had they never suffered to such a extent.
Some of the positive outcomes reported by people as the result from having survived extremely hard times or life-threatening experiences include the following: a greater determination to achieve one's goals; increased self reliance; the belief that one can cope with difficult situations; greater self-understanding; increased ability to tolerate and manage uncertainty; increased ability to handle crises; increased awareness of the brevity and fragility of life; greater appreciation for close relationships; increased family and community closeness; increased compassion for, faith in and tolerance of other people; freedom from worrying about death; spiritual growth; increased respect for and ability to manage powerful emotions; and increased capacity for loyalty and commitment.
These recent research findings corroborate Jung's idea that depression is not always an enemy that needs to be vanquished. They also give some credence the message so often found in ancient Greek drama and in certain Biblical, Hindu and Buddhist teachings: that events leading to suffering, provided they do not destroy all, or almost all, of an individual's inner and outer resources, can lead to an inner transformation which can result in greater wisdom and a fuller life. On the other hand, the suffering must be intense enough so that in forces a person to look inward for the resources to keep on keeping on.
For additional information on depression and related topics, such as guilt, trauma, seeking help and other books by this author, visit www.matsakis.com and www.backfromthefront.org.
This Article has been viewed 711 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.