depressed or getting there

There is a way out of getting depressed before it gets worse. I know, fortunately or unfortunately, because I have had serious episodes of depression that led to hospital stays all my life. I want to help others to get out or avoid the deep, dark hole of depression. It is not weak to get depressed. I believed that one for a long time. It really seems like it just happens, but it doesn't happen overnight. It happens gradually, but we were never taught that our negative thoughts become negative emotions and that it can actually change our body chemistry. Hypersensitive people in any profession, but yes, including artists go past certain boundaries and we get in trouble. We get into a hole and then feel we can't get out. Bull. You can get out! If it hasn't gone on for too long you might be able to change your thinking and heal yourself! If not, you may need medicine, a good psychiatrist who actually listens to or a psychopharmacologist whose job is to prescribe meds and do not forget an excellent therapist. An excellent therapist is one who does not tell you who you are but helps you uncover what is causing you so much pain and guides you to realize and accept the harsh reality. Humans are so complicated that we can actually hide from ourselves. Not a good idea. Because...we can't completely. An excellent therapist is someone who treats you like a human being who realizes you are not something or someone to be fixed and she knows how...s/he is someone who works with you at your pace and gives compassion. Yes! You mostly need compassion. You didn't screw anything up. Life is hard for those who are very sensitive. Not everyone is made so delicately. It is not a fault. It is a gift. Once when I was experiencing so much pain from a difficult realtionship in my life...I told this woman..."I wish I could become tough and feel less." "No you don't!", she cautioned me. "Then you will not feel such great joy either." I never forgot that. You do not need to be fixed! You are learning a hard lesson, perhaps, but you will get out of all this pain...I promise you that. I probably experienced more than a dozen hospitalizations and I was always afraid I wouldn't get out of it! That's part of depression. It is an illness of negativity and this dis ease tries to convince you you are stuck. You are not!!!