Depression

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Depression

Lack of sunlight and spiritual light in your life. Learn about Solar Culture. Be in the sun, do solar exercises, talk to the Sun. Learn from those who talk about spiritual Light. Personally I enjoy the Daily Meditations of O.M. Aïvanhov.
Indulging in helplessness as a luxury. (Paul Solomon) [Not so convinced with Solomon's take here. I am more inclined to see depression as a signal that deep change is required, or alerting you to early life trauma, or to a dissatisfaction with your society, or to the already mentioned dearth of spiritual light.]
Questions to self: Time to get moving? What went wrong in my life? What do I need to change in my life? What is it about my society or culture that I find difficult to handle? How can I bring solar and spiritual light into my life?
Similar emotions: Gloom, Sadness, Despair, Hell.
Opposite emotions: Happiness.

Bach Flower Remedies: Gorse [pessimism, hopelessness], Gentian [discouraged after a setback], Mustard [wide mood swings of unknown origin], Wild Oat [unable to find life direction], Wild Rose [apathy, especially associated with illness], Sweet Chestnut [extreme anguish, despair, aloneness, abandonment].
California Flower Essences: California Wild Rose [apathy, develops life enthusiasm], Borage [discouraged, disheartened].

Quotes

Depression is often not intense sadness – it is suppressed anger that’s been directed towards yourself. (Barbara De Angelis, PhD, Making Love Work, Personal Guidebook, p.53)

Depression can be seen as good for us. In the ancient past, at those times of the year when there was little light, there was not only more danger as it was darker, but also there was less food. So, going slow, sleeping and shutting down the body is a natural response. Depression saves energy in difficult or stressful times, until the bad times naturally pass. It is similar to hibernation. (See Blame My Brain pp.158-161 by Nicola Morgan)

A main function for sadness is to help adjust to a significant loss, such as the death of someone close or a major disappointment. Sadness brings a drop in energy and enthusiasm for life’s activities, particularly diversions and pleasures, and, as it deepens and approaches depression, slows the body’s metabolism. This introspective withdrawal creates the opportunity to mourn a loss or frustrated hope, grasp its consequences for one’s life, and, as energy returns, plan new beginnings. This loss of energy may well have kept saddened and – and vulnerable – early humans close to home, where they were safer. (Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence, p.7)

A good dose of bright sunshine at any time during the day has a huge impact on elevating mood and general feelings of wellbeing. There was a study at the Broadmoor institute where they looked at the effects of the equivalent of 20 minutes of bright sunshine in the morning on mood. What they found was the bright light had a much greater effect on elevating mood than even some anti-depressants.
(Aarti Jagannath, Associate Professor of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Oxford, BBC Ideas, 3m29s, posted 31 January 2022, accessed 3 July 2022)

Resources

The Origins of Peace and Violence - Deprivation of Physical Affection as a Main Cause of Depression, Aggression and Drug Abuse (Erik Möller) [A list of important resources, such as by James W. Prescott PhD].
Mood self-assessment: Could I be depressed? (BBC, 2016).
Can cold water swimming treat depression? (BBC, 2018).
Helping teenagers beat the blues (BBC, 2019).

This is part of a series on Emotion

Also see:-

Emotion

Emotion Index

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