Tuesday 9 August 2016

The Comfort Zone of Depression▲









Hey. 


Being at your lowest point and the decline to it can admittedly get comfortable. The thought of putting in any kind of effort to overcome your depression is tiring enough that you contemplate remaining there. Not because you want to. But because it’s easy.

The process of overcoming depression takes hard work, effort and actual attempts to actively take control of your situation.  There’s literally no way around that. This includes making that one appointment with your GP, taking that stroll down the road, reading that book.

I know for a fact you cannot be happy or comfortable where you are now. So, it’s good to be honest. It might even make you feel worse that you have to admit to yourself that you may just be in this predicament forever if you don’t begin to amend your ways. As much as you may feel that you can deceive those around you, you can never deceive yourself. At the end of the day, the front will compound your mental turmoil. Very often - at work, at school, parties, I'm in turmoil because I'm attempting to maintain something that’s false then go home and face the reality alone. What is comfortable about that?

On many occasions I've heard that to overcome a struggle – i.e. a drug addiction for example, you must hit rock bottom. I hit mine this time last year. This is where I was the most uncomfortable with my situation. Rock bottom is a horrid but genuine place. I say this from experience. It’s the worst part of everything but the deepest point you will ever reach – I believe it can’t get worse

When you are used to being in bed all day like I was, doing nothing, what will make you take that initial step? My rock bottom and my potential future within it was my own motivating force. From my experience, going to my appointments didn’t help alone. But before I knew it, I was out of my house almost every day of the week and the only time I touched my bed was to sleep.

Just know, no one can tell you what to do and motivation has to come from within. But I can tell you that you have to recognise that you are getting too comfortable and where this might lead you to.

“You don’t have to see the full staircase… Just take the first step". It’s not easy but, before you know it, that space that seemed so "comfortable” becomes so uncomfortable and you begin to emerge from it as well as see the benefits of being active with your journey to recovery.