Three Top-Down Ways of Beating Depression and lifting your Mood
This post is the continuation of the Five-Bottom Up Approaches To Lift your Mood Fast that I strongly suggest you read first to understanding this post better.
Understanding Mood and Affect and their differences
Mood is the way you feel subjectively in the short term. Mood can swing rapidly according to your life’s circumstances. Things go well and your moods lift; things go bad and your moods sink. Mood can be positive, when you feel optimistic and feel physically well. Your moods can be negative, depressed, or irritable, when you feel down, cross, or unwell.
Affect is the overt manifestation of our moods. Affect is the objective–external–aspect of your subjective moods. Affect is usually a more prolonged state of mind than mood. For instance, if you experience a major depressive episode, the depressed affect will be down for weeks–not just minutes or hours. And your affective state during those episodes will be less reactive to circumstances. A severely depressed person will not brighten up his or her mood even if something good happens to them.
How our moods and affects manifest
When our mood is subjectively low, our external appearance (our affect) changes accordingly and shows it. This state of mind is shown on our facial gestures and body movements. Our faces show our somber moods in a sad affect. In those circumstances, we don’t smile or laugh and our eyebrows are strained. The mouth commissures get slanted downwards on their outer parts; and we frown in an omega shape that becomes stamped on our foreheads. In that state, our faces become more like the Greek drama masks. Our loved ones can tell we are “down” because” it shows in our face and eyes.” But our emotional states also show in our bodily movements that become introverted and slower.
Our bodies display our optimism when we feel good
When we are up and optimistic–when our mood is good–our affect shows it in our eyes and faces. Good moods show by smiling, laughing frequently, by our facial expressions and displaying a twinkling in our eyes. Our bodies, for their part, show this positive state of mind by moving and getting into action. When we feel “up,” we are driven and motivated. In a good mood, we are able to enjoy life, and we are well predisposed to doing things and tackling projects. For instance, we feel like cleaning, cooking, or embarking on a new work project and do not get tired easily. We feel confident we will be able to complete the task at hand and we don’t tire easily.
Depressive states show in our bodies
The opposite is true when we feel depressed. In a state of depression, our bodies slow down and are not prone to moving. We isolate, we worry, and brood. Our energy level is down. And our natural tendency is to remain immobile. But, we may also become restless and start pacing if our depressive state is accompanied by anxiety.
In depression, we have increased negative bodily sensations such as aches and pains. In either case, we feel “ill at ease” in our own bodies. And our thought processes accompany how we feel inside. So, depression is experienced–not just in the mind–but in our emotions–and in our entire bodies.
The non-depressed state
When we are well, and not depressed, our thoughts are more positive and optimistic. Problems seem smaller and solvable. We look forward to the future with confidence. On the other hand, when we are depressed our thinking slows down and the future looks dark and scary. Our perception of Time changes and seems eternal. Thinking becomes difficult; and becomes hard to focus and concentrate. It is as if our thoughts were stuck in molasses because it is so hard to think. At the same time, the content of our thoughts becomes morbid and morose. We become preoccupied with the past, with our health, and with guilt or regrets, often accompanied of self-reproach. Or we worry and fear the future in intense angst.
The state of major depression
When we are really down and out–in a state of major depression–we feel hopeless and helpless. We come to believe that–no matter what we do– things will not change for the better. At this level of depression, we entertain suicidal thoughts. We may think that life is not worth living; or we may think that others “will be better off” if we are no longer around. We feel like “a burden” to ourselves and to the world. This is the time to consult with a psychiatrist immediately and without a do to prevent suicide.
Keep in mind that Depression takes place in three domains
A state of depression manifests itself in the three areas of behavior:
1 The cognitive (our thinking).
2-The emotional (our feelings).
3- The behavioral (known as the psychomotor system) that express our movements and actions.
Because of these three areas of existence involved in the depressive state, there are three rapid ways to improve our moods by attacking the problem from each of these areas
1-The cognitive pass to beating depression
In general, in today’s psychology as practiced in the United States, the emphasis is put on our way of thinking. This is the basis of so-called “Cognitive Therapies” of which the one in vogue in the US today is called CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). This type of therapy works well in the short-term to alleviate depression. It is the psychotherapy approach more supported by scientific studies at present. The idea behind it is to change the way you think in the here and now to change how you see the world and how you feel.
CBT is based on the notion that you feel according to the way you think. In this form of psychotherapy, if you change your thoughts, your emotions will follow and change accordingly. Positive feelings follow positive thoughts.
On the other hand, if you have a dark thought, say, “this problem is unsolvable, and things will never get any better,” this thought will cause a defeatist attitude and a feeling of sadness will follow. This pessimistic thought literally will sap your energy. This type of thoughts–if are entertained repeatedly–will lead to hopelessness and a state of inertia. They will create a sense of ‘learned helplessness.” In this state you stop trying anything, as you come to believe that no matter what you do, things will not improve for you.
So, as a rule, a pessimist cognitive style promotes depression in the long term, while the opposite holds true for an optimistic way of thinking
The dynamic approach to treating depression
The emotional approach or psychodynamic approach to treating depression was used more frequently during the course of the 20th century. It stems originally from the theories posited by Freud and psychoanalysis. These therapies work with the concept of the Unconscious. In Freud’s view, depressions are the result of unresolved bereavement and loss and anger turned inwards.
The idea in these dynamic therapies is that by identifying and speaking out your emotions, there will be a decrease in their intensity and negativity. Emotions, from this perspective, must be identified, expressed verbally (abreacted), and processed (worked through). This is known as “working though your emotional states.”
In these dynamic psychotherapies, there is an emphasis on past trauma and not just on the here and now like in CBT. And the main idea is that people feel ‘down or angry” and do not know why–or cannot say why–because they are responding to unconscious traumas from their pasts. So, in this type of therapy, the task is to bring up the unconscious traumatic memories, with their respective affects; to work them through in the present; and to express the mass of negative affect that has accumulated and brings the individual down.
The “Bottom-up” Approach
Both methods described above operate from the top down. CBT affects the brain cortex changing the thoughts to change the feelings that reside in the subcortical areas of the brain. I have addressed some of the body-to-mind—or “bottom-up” approaches–in my previous post. This is called Five Bottom-up Approaches to Lift your Mood Fast that I suggest you read to complement this one.
The psychodynamic emotional methods, also affect the brain’s cortex, but it focuses on the subcortical—limbic areas of the brain--to cause change in the brain cortex (the brain’s outer layer). This means that if feelings are identified and worked through putting them into words (changing the cognitive function that resides in the cortex of the brain), our affect will change automatically to more positive thoughts.
In the bottom-up approach means, you attack the problem–not from the perspective of the brain–but from the perspective of the body to change your mood rapidly. And the improved mood will then change your thoughts in a positive direction.
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I hope to see you in my next post,
Till then,
Dr T