Innerwords Newsletter: What is Depression?

Well, firstly, depression is a very misunderstood condition. It is not so much an illness but a natural, protective state. The depressed state of mind is very different from the so-called ‘normal’ state of mind, which exists in the presence of emotional feelings. But what happens when creativity is stifled and one’s emotions get to ‘overload’ one’s system?

Without the natural protective mechanism of depressing out of the emotional mind, an individual’s emotional balance would be tipped towards insanity!

Please imagine for a moment a straight line drawn across a blackboard. To the left end write the word insanity and to the right end write the word sanity. Human consciousness exists as a portion somewhere in the middle. If we start at the middle point - the more emotional we become the more we move towards the left of the scale (insanity) and the more objective we become the more we move towards sanity (super-consciousness).

We can label this line in many ways. For instance, the left side could read - limited mind; limiting attitudes; closed mind; subjective mind; anti-Christ consciousness; death. The right side would thus read - unlimited mind; expansive attitudes; open mind; objective mind; Christ consciousness; eternal life.

We are stuck in the middle trying to maintain an emotional balance. People that age more quickly than others are those that are ‘to the left’ of the so-called normal group. If we go too far to the left then they come and take us away! Our spiritual journey then is to advance towards the objectivity of the right mind.

A person becomes depressed or has a nervous breakdown because their emotions have got the better of them. And the reason this occurs is because they have stifled their creative spirit - they have plastered the walls so tight that they either end up in the loony bin or they depress out of their emotional mind and go into a deeper part of their brain, which is unfamiliar to them.

What is unfamiliar is the lack of emotion (lack of feeling), the space, emptiness, no- mans land, lost, lonely, don’t care, bewildered, useless, lethargic, de-motivated, don’t know what to do, what’s the point?, rejected, suicidal. You know what I mean?

So what should you do if you become depressed? Thank God that it has occurred before you’ve blown a fuse! The way out of depression is to find a creative outlet to occupy your mind - that is your path towards joy. For me, it is my writing but for you it could be creating a picture, creating exquisite food, reading (creating pictures in your mind), dancing, dressmaking, gardening, building something. Indeed, it doesn’t have to be anything extravagant; it can be anything that you are interested in that also creatively engages your mind.

Depression is a lack of creative self-expression

Think about it - why are there significantly more people searching on the web today for information about depression than for any other so-called mental illness? Searchesfor depression outstrip the searches for counselling, mental health and the combined searches for stress and anxiety! The reason can be laid squarely at the feet of government, parenting and the schooling system. Our governments are responsible for stifling the creativity of our wee little children and turning them into intellectual, spiritually (creatively) defunct, emotional morons; the result of which is a population that is rife with depression: and the drug companies getting richer.

Gary Bate Author of: We are here to Know Ourselves: Inspirational Articles of Wisdom Christ Consciousness – 101 Reasons Why