Reading 3-Overcoming Depression

7/30/2019 Reading 3-Overcoming Depression

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READING 3- Overcoming Depression

1. There are many effective ways to overcome depression. Fortunately, we can control our thoughtsand feelings much more than most people realize. With enough work and effort, you can change habitualthoughts and feelings. First, however, if you are on any medicines, check with your doctor to see if amedicine may be causing your depression. A surprising number of medicines can do this, including manytranquilizers or sleeping pills, many high blood pressure medicines, hormones such as oral contraceptives,some anti-inflammatory or anti-infection drugs, some ulcer medicines, etc. Changing your prescribedmedications may be all you need to eliminate depression.

Develop Interests, Participate in Activites2. Perhaps one of the most common reasons for depression is not having enough interests andactivities. A small number of them tends to become routine and often boring. Interests and activities arevery important in mental health, contributing to self-esteem and happiness. They give satisfaction, helpmake you feel good about yourself, and keep your mind off problems and negative thoughts and emotions.Simply cultivating them can sometimes cure depression, grief, addiction, explosive anger, anxiety,excessive worrying, or guilt, especially if you do the activities whenever you feel the negative emotion. Theyare also important social skills that give you pleasant and interesting things to talk about, improving yourconversation skills and helping in making and keeping friends. Children with many interests and activitiesare less likely to have behavior problems, including alcohol or drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, violence,

and crime later on. Their wide variety of interests keep them busy and out of trouble and naturally builddifferent circles of friends, so they are less likely to be influenced by the wrong kind of friend.

3. There are three main kinds of helpful interests and activities: pleasurable, constructive, and altruistic.Of course, pleasurable activities give us enjoyment. We may do them just for fun or relaxation. Constructiveactivities produce or accomplish something and give a sense of pride. Examples include getting things donearound the house, working on a project, practicing a skill, or studying a subject that interests you. Altruisticactivities help other people. Examples include teaching a friend a craft, helping sick or old people, orvolunteer work. Altruistic activities give companionship, gratitude from other people, and a sense of pride.Helping others is one of the best ways to lift yourself spiritually. Helping less fortunate people can also givea healthy sense of perspective. For example, your personal problems may appear unimportant after a dayvolunteering with mental patients or dying cancer patients.4. Of course, depressed people often find it very difficult to motivate themselves and often reject newinterests and activities without trying them or after one attempt. But even happy people don't enjoy interests

without first cultivating them. We often don't enjoy a new activity right away. Instead, it may take time tobecome accustomed to a new activity and for interest and pleasure to grow. You may need to learn to relaxin the new situation or to develop some expertise or skill before you can learn to enjoy it. Don't reject newactivities before giving them a chance. Try any new activity at least several times, with an open mind.Motivate yourself with rewards for engaging in new activities and getting things done. If you smokecigarettes, you might avoid smoking until you try a new activity or accomplish something. Ask friends andfamily members to help motivate you, too.

Keep A Positive Attitude5. Negative thinking habits play a very important role in depression. Research shows depressed peopletend to minimize their accomplishments, talents, and qualities. They tend to see themselves as inferior andincompetent, despite being comparable to other people in qualities and skills. Their thinking habits focus onor exaggerate problems and faults and minimize or fail to see the good things in their lives. They tend torecall negative things more often than positive things, and they tend to minimize, overlook, or forget feelingsof pleasure in their lives. They may feel preoccupied with loss or personal problems, perhaps wallowing inthoughts about self-pity, inability to cope, or escaping their problems.

6. Happy people experience failure, disappointment, rejection, negative emotions, pain, and greatsorrows, too, just like depressed people. But happy people keep a positive attitude by accepting sadnessand suffering as normal parts of life, while doing what they can about their problems. This also makes themmore pleasant to be around and improves their social lives. Part of happiness is a courageous choice ofloving life in the face of suffering, a chosen position or view of things.

7. Expecting dissatisfaction and failure, depressed people often give up easily and thereby bring onfailure. Happy people know that every failure is a learning experience that can lead to success if they refuseto give up. Starting a successful business, for example, may take many years of learning what doesn't work.

Source: Chuck T. Falcon. copyright 2002
http://www.healthyplace.com/communities/depression/treatment/alternative/illness_and_depression.asp#medicines_depressionhttp://www.healthyplace.com/communities/depression/causes.asphttp://www.healthyplace.com/communities/depression/causes.asphttp://www.healthyplace.com/communities/depression/causes.asphttp://www.healthyplace.com/communities/depression/treatment/alternative/illness_and_depression.asp#medicines_depression


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After causing their own failure by giving up, depressed people often blame their problems on fate, bad luck,other people, circumstances, or their incompetence. They may passively resign themselves to problemsituations and let the problems continue. Their pessimistic thinking leads them to reject many enjoyableactivities. Sometimes their lack of motivation involves not knowing what to do to improve things or fear ofmaking the needed changes.

Develop Friendships and Relationships8. Marital relationships are often important in depression. An appreciative, complimentary, supportive

marital relationship can protect you from depression despite life stresses. Work on increasing the positivebehaviors in your marriage. Perhaps your marriage lacks a confiding relationship of sharing feelings andreceiving acceptance, understanding, and emotional support from each other? Sharing feelings is muchmore important than simply sharing facts with your spouse. Ask your spouse to compliment you more andto say many of the things normally taken for granted, to show appreciation for the routine things you doevery day. Learn about good marital skills and put them to use in your life.9. Research shows depressed people are more likely than other people to interact with their spousesand children in hostile or angry ways. Do you yell, sulk, bring up old resentments from the past, nag, insultor use negative labels, make demands or ultimatums, or criticize with overgeneralizations? Do you alienateother people with communication problems such as avoiding important issues, blaming, or assuming youknow what another person thinks? Another communication problem is bringing up too many problem issueswithout focusing on solutions, one at a time. Of course, everyone does these things at times, but bad habitsin these areas increase stress and can destroy intimacy with your loved ones. Learn about and practice

good communications skills.10. Looking for a romance to save you from your loneliness and unhappiness is a rather desperate,needy search that alienates other people. Your personality cannot sparkle with this kind of focus in your life.Instead, focus on enjoying the single life, meeting people, and making friends. Accept you may be single fora long time and get on with your life. You need a wide variety of interests and activities, and you need toenjoy and value your friendships. Having these priorities will make you more pleasant, give you practice insocializing, and increase your chances of finding romance. With interests and activities and a good networkof friends and acquaintances, your painful longing will cease.

11. A common, very painful mistake in dating is to become completely involved with a person who showslittle true concern for your needs and feelings. Perhaps your partner only wants to see you occasionally orwhen other relationships end. Perhaps your partner is selfish and repeatedly inconsiderate of your feelingsor needs. Staying in any unfulfilling relationship ties up much of your time and deepest emotions. Thedanger in staying in an unfulfilling relationship is you become accustomed to unhappy situations, making

you an easy target for people who will use you. Unfortunately, plenty of people will use you if you let them.Your time and emotional energy are better spent developing interests, activities, ways of meeting people,and a more suitable love relationship. Never settle for less in a relationship-hold out for what you reallywant.

Balance in Your Life12. People need a healthy balance between pleasure and work. A few depressed and overwhelmedpeople need to quit pushing themselves so hard, relax more, and eliminate some work activities, but mostdepressed people need more interests and activities. Empty time often leads to negative thinking anddepression. Choose more interests and activities, including those you once enjoyed and could resume, andask yourself which ones you might do if you didn't feel depressed. As you develop interests, share themwith other people.

13. Many doctors and psychologists recommend regular exercise for depression and note it improves the

mood. Exercise invigorates you, giving you more energy. Deep relaxation also helps combat depressionand especially helps anxious depressed people. Relaxation helps people find peace within themselves.Learn about different kinds of relaxation techniques and meditation and put them to use in your life.

Final Words.14. Don't worry about whether you are happy. Develop interests, activities, and friendships, be kind, helpother people, accept emotional pain, work on conquering your personal problems, and improve yourthinking habits. These things will lead to happiness. Conquering your depression may take months or years,depending on its severity, how long you have had negative thinking habits, your personal problems, andhow much effort you put into it.



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A. SKIMMING: Number the headings according to the paragraphs in the text in the spaces

given. The headings are not in the same order as the paragraphs. One is done for you as

an example.

Heading paragraph number

Ways of improving your social life and relationships. 10__

A. Areas of conflict between depressed people and their families ______

B. Some reasons why romantic relationships may be unsuccessful ______

C. The bad habits caused by being depressed lead to a lack of success ______

D. Everybody needs to make an effort to really enjoy a hobby or interest ______

E. Depressed people cant see the good things in their lives. ______

F. The importance of meditation and exercise in overcoming depression ______

G. The advantages of having a lot of hobbies. ______

B. Detailed Reading Questions: The questions are in the same order as theanswers in the text. You do not have to write full sentences.

1. What may be one very easy way of overcoming depression?

_____________________________________________________________

2. How could having an interest or engaging in an activity help you avoid being

lonely?

__________________________________________________________________

3. Give one reason why children with a lot of interests are less likely to get into

trouble later in life:

__________________________________________________________________4. Underline the correct definition of altruistic:

a) educational b) doing things for other people without expecting a reward

c) helping people who are ill d) something that makes you busy

5. Why might you need extra motivation when starting a new interest or activity?

__________________________________________________________________

6. Why do happy peoples reactions to bad experiences make them more popular

with others?

__________________________________________________________________

7. What makes depressed people less likely to have a successful company?__________________________________________________________________

8. Why are depressed people less likely to have happy marriages?

__________________________________________________________________

9. What can be the result of trying too hard to find a lover?

__________________________________________________________________

10.What is the most common problem faced by depressed people?

__________________________________________________________________

11. Give two factors affecting how long it takes to overcome depression:

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________


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Reading 3-Overcoming Depression