Depression is the most common psychiatric illness and one of the pathologies that causes the most disability worldwide.
We have all felt sad at times, especially at times when life takes an unexpected turn. However, people who suffer from depression are not only sad for a long period of time, but also feel unable to cope with their day to day successfully, they are constantly afflicted negative thoughts that lower your self-esteem and they end up believing themselves useless and unable to continue with their life, often suffering thoughts of death and even thoughts of suicide.
Their low mood and hopelessness push them to remain bedridden, since they do not feel like anything, their life is meaningless and there is nothing that motivates them to change their situation..
"Walling up your own suffering is to risk it devouring you from within" Frida Kahlo
Treatment for depression is of two types, through antidepressant drugs or psychotherapy, that can be used together or separately.
Among all psychotherapies, the one most frequently used in the case of depression is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, through which devastating thoughts and negative perceptions of life are modified.
People with depression often interpret reality in terms of all or nothing, often blaming themselves for everything that happens to them and interpreting it in a catastrophic. By means of the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy an attempt is made to modify all these beliefs for more positive and adaptive ones.
For example, if a depressed patient is rejected in a job offer, he will think that he is useless, that he is useless and that he does everything wrong; A more adequate and realistic way to face the situation would be to think that there will be other opportunities, that you learn from everything, that perhaps this job was not for him and that you have to keep trying.
From the modification of the way of conceiving the world, it is expected that there will also be a change in emotions and thus mood.
In addition to the Progressive Relaxation proposed by Jacobson for depression, this same author established a new type of therapy in 1996; is called Behavioral Activation, and affects a particular symptom, the one with inactivity.
This therapy conceive of depression from context and attributes it to a situation or a series of triggering circumstances that, occasionally or gradually, occur in the patient's life and that, at that moment, are too difficult to deal with, so that the patient avoids them.
It focuses, therefore, on modifying the environment and the avoidance behaviors that the patient acquires.
These patients lose interest in performing any type of activity, sometimes affecting even the most basic activities, since they lose their appetite and stop grooming. Everything that once aroused your interest has lost its value. Behavioral Activation intends to recover the forgotten illusion of these patients for all their hobbies and daily activities that gave meaning to their existence.
Postulate that inactivity fuels your unhappiness and despair, so that, by breaking this dynamic, we will be able to remove the patient from the vicious circle in which they live immersed.
It is, therefore, that the patient gradually returns to doing all those activities that made him enjoy: going on a picnic to the beach, taking a trip to the mountains, enjoying a walk in the park, meeting with that person you haven't seen for so long, have a drink on a terrace in spring, enjoy the first rays of spring sunshine ...
The activities to be carried out in therapy they are scheduled between patient and therapist depending on the tastes and preferences of the patient, making him participate from the initial moment of choosing the activities to be carried out. In this sense, the work of the psychologist in a case of depression is very important..
In this way, the patient becomes active agent for change, holding him accountable and involving him in all phases. Once the tasks have been decided, they are ranked, depending on how appealing they are and the level of difficulty they entail, always starting with those that are simpler and gradually increasing their demand based on progress..
It is, therefore, an individualized therapy that is tailored to each patient in particular..
For example, a patient may say that in his day-to-day life, what he did and enjoyed the most was: cooking, going out for coffee with a friend, and going to play soccer. Given your current state, the simple act of leaving the house may be too much effort, which a good way to start would be by cooking, since it is an activity that you can do without having to leave the house.
Gradually, and as the patient gradually incorporates this and other domestic activities, the patient should begin to leave the home. The first outing could be a limited time that would go away increasing as therapy progresses, as well as the frequency of the outings, in each of which they could carry out different activities, such as going for a drink with someone or going to see or play a game.
The process must be progressive, respecting the times of each person and adjusting to the difficulties and unforeseen events that may arise. It is not about overwhelming the patient with a lot of pleasant plans, but about incorporate into your daily routine small activities that you did before suffering from depression that can reconnect you with your motivations and promote a more active, attractive and appealing lifestyle that allows you to find meaning in life again.
Reinventing your life remembering what it was that moved you and rediscovering new reasons to fight and live. Reinvent and revive.
"A story has neither beginning nor end: arbitrarily one chooses the moment of the experience from which one looks backwards or forwards." Graham greene
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