Storied Mind

“You don’t have to be sick to get better” – Fritz Perls, one of the founders of gestalt psychotherapy.

I once tried the thought experiment of doing away with the concept ‘therapy’, it had interesting results: e.g. ideas like a celebratory approach to life (including suffering). I don’t mean this to sound like I trivialise very real pain.

Looking forward to hearing how you shape your life.

Sikantis -

Thank you so much! There is something to be said for writing about the down side of things – mostly for the catharsis. But writing out of hope and good feelings is one of the ways I stay well.

Thanks for coming by.

John

Lynn -

That’s beautifully put, and you’re so right that “human will is stronger than that.” Looking back on all the treatments I’ve tried, it’s strange that not one therapist, psychiatrist or anyone else ever spoke about human will or my will to live without depression. There was always the principle that making progress was up to me – but that usually meant achieving catharsis and acceptance about the losses of the past – or achieving a state of tranquility and equilibrium. It’s definitely time to get a higher grade than a C!

All my best to you — John

Echoing the thanks, I’ve arrived at a similar place myself, making the transition from living just for recovery to some kind of new purpose. I hear the word ‘reinvention’ a lot, not only from my therapist, but even from people in business who are trying to cope with the external turmoil of the economy climate.
To your question about the role of will and purpose, I believe that a certain amount of recovery has to take place before the will can function meaningfully.
Depression robs me of the ability to do the things that I need to do to get better. There have been times when I was a puddle. No amount of exertion of will, belief in the future, or anything could bring me out of it. I required treatment in the form of meds, ECT, hospitalization, and therapy, along with tremendous and loving support from family and friends, to get my head above water.
This varies widely from person to person, just as responses to crises, infections, or pollutants differ. My father, a welder, worked with asbestos all of his life, wrapping himself in asbestos blankets while welding inside boiler tanks. He lived to 93 with clear lungs at the time of his death. Another friend had a brief exposure to asbestos and died of lung cancer a few years later. It was, IMO, about genetics, not about will.
Again, thanks for your good insights.

RoasterBoy -

Thanks for this interesting comment. It’s true, of course, that recovery has to take place and requires much of what you’ve worked with (I hope the ECT had benefit – friends of mine who’ve had it suffered serious cognitive loss for some time afterward). I discussed that more in the earlier post I cited in this one. I spent years in that condition of not being able to will anything, so what you hear from me now only comes after that long struggle for basic survival.

There is evidence about the genetic basis for the disposition to get depression, provided the later life experience triggers it. But it isn’t the whole story, as it probably is with other diseases. However, no one really knows the whole story from a medical and research perspective, and each of us has to figure out what works and make the most of it.

I wish you well with finding out where you go from here.

My best to you — John

Gianna -

This is exactly what I mean – getting away from the illness words and assumptions. What you say so beautifully about feelings passing through quickly is a wonderful quality about well-being. Unfortunately, I’ve always had a way of pinning the feelings up on a wall to stop them for review – I wind up holding onto them and they whip up a storm trying to get out.

Thanks for this comment!

All my best — John

Hi, Diane -

Accepting suffering and pain as part of being human is hard, but I think that gets at it. You show incredible resilience, given the number of issues you have to deal with – and you remain a highly motivated writer despite the pain. Happiness, I agree, is not the way to think of what to aim for. Frankl is great on this. He deplores the idea that people should seek a happy equilibrium – what he emphasizes is both purpose and action in the world, a dynamic state full of change and surprises – not the same anodyne existence all the time. (I’m actually working on a post about that now.) I’d be interested to know more about how you distinguish between happiness and joy.

Thanks so much for your insights – they always get me thinking.

I’ll check out your post on treatments – and others, since I’ve been remiss in visiting my favorite blogs. I’m spending a lot of time on my new blog and other online ideas. Fortunately, I have the time now to focus just on this kind of work.

All love to you — John

John -

Thank you – that’s so encouraging to hear you’re doing well. It amazes me how the words and concepts can frame our whole outlook. Congratulations on great progress!

Thanks for coming by.

John

Hi, Minu -

I know how hard it is to keep going through a time of feeling discouraged and fearful about getting better. It really is true that depression is an illness and that there’s a lot more to you than that. It’s hard to find the methods that work – I’ve tried just about everything except sending electricity through my brain. In the end, I think it’s all helped – I urge you to look at the Sherwin Nuland video on his recovery (which did require ECT). It’s another moving testament about recovery from a man who almost lost everything to depression.

My very best to you.

John