How To Deal With Long-Term Depression

by Gina Bendel

For most of my life I suffered from depression.  I tried to understand it, tried to soothe it, tried to sweep it under the rug and ignore it.  I even tried to cover it up with laughter and a well-thought up façade – my mask to the world!  I tried counselors, tried medication – the list goes on and on!!  Nothing seemed to work for very long and I was REALLY sick and tired of feeling so miserable all the time.

Because of an amazing life coach whose program, YOU University, I credit to saving me from myself and because I was truly ready to overcome the feelings of deep depression I had lived with since I can remember, I learned that I needed to delve deeper to the roots - the core beliefs and experiences from the time I was born and up until my current life – all of which brought me to where I was (and where I was would be considered desperate – hanging on a cliff by only my fingernails)!  I needed to face all I had learned by my experiences, analyze it and learn new habits and thought patterns that would give me back my authentic self – the real genuine Gina that was hidden beneath all the crap.

To overcome long-term depression takes dedication and real work.  I learned the things that did not work for me long term (or for any of the people I know suffering from long-term depression).  Some of these are:

• Anti-depressants (this only numbs the depression for short periods of time and doesn’t deal with the core issues)


• Covering it up with what you think the world wants to see


• Pretending it doesn’t really exist & refusing to discuss your feelings


• Self medicating by numbing the painful feelings with alcohol or drugs


• Being unwilling to work on uncovering and resolving the issues


• Holding emotions inside and not resolving them


• Carrying resentment, anger, shame, guilt and/or not being able to forgive someone who has hurt you deeply in some way


• Running away from the problems

Here are a few things I have learned DO work:

1. Get to the root of the depression – be willing to look in depth at how you came to be depressed in the first place.


2. Learn tools to replace the negative self-talk and self-loathing or “victim mentality” that often accompanies depression with positive self-talk and love for yourself.  Be willing and open to creating new life-time habits.


3. Imagine what it feels like to be happy – paint a picture in your mind of this new, happy you.  What do you look like?  Where are you living?  Who are you with?  See it, smell it, taste it and create a visual piece that you can look at every day.  What you envision, you can attract!


4. Write about it.  Journaling has enormous benefits in helping you to get your emotions out in a constructive, healthy way.   Simply pick up a piece of paper and start writing whatever is on your mind or in your heart.  It truly is remarkable how much better it can make you feel by releasing your emotions in this way!


5. Start a gratitude list. Every time you think of it or notice yourself feeling badly or talking about what’s wrong, go write on your list.I know how debilitating long-term depression can be.   Nobody should have to continue that downward spiral.  If anything in this article resonates with you and you would like some guidance, please check out the following site where you can read about the journey I took through YOU University.

Radical Self Acceptance/Life Coach Training and Life Coaching