Limitless Monday: Banishing Depression – Prison-Style

Limitless Monday – Banishing depression prison style

We all suffer from depression to a degree, even the most successful and positive among us. This article looks at some of the strategies employed by those who manage depression rather than let depression manage them.

I myself am no stranger to depression. I wouldn’t say I was inflicted by it, but I know when the cloud of doom is about to engulf me, and knowing these tell tale signs, I usually act before the time comes, and it’s too late.

Let me start with a short story.

The story starts in a dark, noisy, crowded subterranean cell in Africa. I had been locked up there for 48 hours. It was a place set apart from the main prison, entered through a nondescript door.

It was a hidden gulag they didn’t want the UN to see. There was no food, and we were locked in hot, semi-darkness, without the prospect of stepping outside for the immediate future.

I would imagine the infamous Black Hole of Calcutta resembled something like this.

If I was ever going to fall into a state of depression, this was surely going to be the trigger. In fact, this experience had the opposite effect.

Firstly, I considered it an experience. Never to be repeated. A paragraph in my book, or a gripping story told over drinks in a bar to a few close friends.

Secondly, I looked at my current predicament as an opportunity to get some much needed rest, I had been chasing the green for what seemed like a lifetime. A few days of rest was what my body and mind yearned for.

I set aside time and space to exercise and read. When the limited natural light disappeared, I meditated and contemplated life.

What can we learn from this experience to help us manage depression?

As I mentioned in a previous article, it is important we establish our purpose.

If you have no purpose, it is easy to fall into depression, thinking that your life is drifting, believing you have no direction or no reason for existence.

A bad marriage or relationship, a dead end job, poor health are all triggers. But depression can also rear its ugly face when everything appears to be going well. However, there is always a trigger.

Perhaps you feel you are not getting job satisfaction or fulfilling your true potential.What was my purpose?

My immediate purpose was to get out of prison a stronger, more educated, and well-rounded person compared to when I entered those iron gates.

Everything I did was towards that goal. My purpose distracted me from potential negative thoughts and what ifs which were never far away!

Advertisement

What is your purpose?

Once you have established your purpose, you are not out of the woods yet.

Negative thoughts will continue to develop in your mind, which will attempt to sabotage your new positive mission-driven approach. In order to keep these thoughts at bay, you must be constantly contemplating and working on your purpose.

When one negative thought enters your mind, immediately recall your purpose, and either do something towards that purpose or, if it’s 1am, establish a plan you will implement as soon as you arise from your slumber.

Depression occurs when an avalanche of negativity swirls around your mind, and it seems impossible to break out of this thought pattern. But remember, historically, you have always broken free, eventually.

If you are someone who feels as though they are constantly in that place, work out your purpose now, and figure out what you are going to do to achieve that purpose.

Here are five important aids I use to destroy negative thoughts and keep me in the light.

Firstly, it is important you have a small circle of good friends. These must be happy and content people. If you find that you are regularly ending calls with your friends frustrated and angry, then this is a sign that your so-called friends are not happy and content; you must find a new bunch of friends!

Spend time with your friends, gain inspiration from them. We must all have friends that inspire us. If you don’t have these types of friends, join a meetup group and find like minded inspirational people. Don’t handle depression on your own.

Acts of kindness are another important factor that can transform your mood. When I was first arrested, I was probably the closest to suicide I have ever been. I sat in a crowded cell for 12 hours, hungry and hungover. I was surrounded by what appeared to be 20 peering eyes all looking at me suspiciously and aggressively.

And then one bedraggled prisoner stepped forward and offered me some bread and a bottle of water. My heart melted right then and there.

The thoughts of suicide by rushing the guard and relieving him of his firearm disappeared. I accepted my situation and opened my heart.

There was still kindness in the world, and life was worth living.

Be kind to someone. The giver and the receiver will both benefit.

Thirdly, do something that makes you feel alive.

I overheard someone talking about ‘seasonal depression’ the other day. I presume they were discussing the shorter, colder days of winter.

If we have a purpose, it shouldn’t matter what our environment is like. You are in control of your emotions, and that means that we should not be concerned about factors that are out of our control, the environment being one of them.

When I was writing on the bunk of my prison cell, I wasn’t thinking about my surroundings, I was focused on writing.

I could have been sitting on a hilltop overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. My environment was irrelevant to me. I had a goal. Where I was did not figure in that.

However, whilst these are wise words, sometimes we need to take action to jolt us back into our optimal frame of mind.

Do something that breaks you out of the monotony which can still exist even when we have a purpose. Attend a meetup group, go to a boxing class, learn jiu-jitsu, play soccer, join the gym, go for a run, attend a standup comedy show.

Next, don’t worry about the future; focus on the now. I have always handled stress by working on new goals even when it appeared that my life was falling apart. I was focused on the next big thing: pursuing a new relationship, working on a new business idea, or a fitness goal.

If you are focused on positivity, there is no room for the negativity to seep in. This is how you maintain momentum.

Finally, accept the reality of depression. Don’t fight it, and, crucially, don’t be afraid of it. You will continue to have negative thoughts, and you will always think, is this the time when I sink into depression?

But you have so many tools available to avoid a depressive state. Use thoughts of depression as a self check, that you are not thinking intelligently!

Today I want you to recall your purpose. Write it down on a white board and put it in a prominent place. You must ingrain your purpose into your psyche.

When you detect a flow of negative thoughts creeping into your mind, your goal is to break that thought pattern in its tracks.

Make a plan, take action, or simply pick up your phone and call a good friend.

Our lives are finite, fill them with positivity, light, and joy. Start today!

Happy Monday!

Banner Image: Prison. Image Credit – R.D. Smith