What is depression?

[Roman25]

I am not depressed at all, personally, but I am wondering why others get depressed. It's very strange since it doesn't really solve any problems. Usually if we touched something really hot then our arm will immediately move away without us giving it thought. But depression literally doesn't protect us from anything. In fact, it's deadly.

[brugluiz]

Maybe it depends on several factors, even people's karma. Depression is not a bad thing at all. Many geniuses of history had depression, bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder and even schizophrenia.

Such mental disorders are transformation, and not something to be ashamed of.

[the_end_of_me]

a Bitch.

[Leo Gura]

Depression protects us from Truth and responsibility.

It is the devil's final "Fuck you" to God.

[Devil]

@Leo Gura Without Depression we would have died along time ago. It's a shield.

[brugluiz]

2 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Depression protects us from Truth and responsibility.

It is the devil's final "Fuck you" to God.

I don't think so. Maybe this Carl Jung's quote defines depression better:

"No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell."

I believe many guys here passed through depression and, after the storm, found much better place under the sun.

[Fuku]

There's certainly several types of depression but the one I know can't be reasonned with. You can tell yourself you have to fight it all you want, when it's there, it paralyzes you, it's extremely draining. I'm very conscious of it, I try to fight it, and even managed to make it better in a few years, but it cannot be explained and has to pass (for me at least)...until it comes back again.
As for the roots of it, it's probably either fear (of death, or something else) or a dissonance between your true nature/what you want to be  and your current situation. In this last case, the purpose of it would probably be to wake you up so you do something about your life.

I know it's much more complex that, but yeah. My 2 cents.

 

Edited September 9, 2018 by Fuku

[Haumea2018]

Quote

 

Depression protects us from Truth and responsibility.

It is the devil's final "Fuck you" to God.

 

I want to commend Leo for this.  Beautifully stated.

That was one of my first realizations upon reaching Sahaja.

"Depression is simply one not taking sufficient responsibility upon oneself."

In astrology, depression is represented by the planet Saturn.

Saturn symbolizes both depression and responsibility.

You can pick one or the other.

 

[Nahm]

@Leo Gura That is brilliant.

[Elisabeth]

I think there's also a hypothesis that a depressed state was actually physiologically helpful during long winter when people just needed to save energy. So they went into this kind of lethargic state when they were mostly sitting in a cave together, doing little, eating little.

I don't think however this is quite the same kind of depression that results from a disconnected life.

[kev014]

Depends how you categorize/define depression. I'm 22 years old now and would say that I lived for a decent part of my youth unaware of a certain level of depression/apathy. It took me some serious bioenergetics to realize how much emotional pain I had inside of myself that I had not addressed. Throughout my youth, I had used apathy and a 'don't give a fuck about anything' attitude unconsciously to protect myself from the pain I was feeling. I can only speak of my own experiences, maybe this is helpful to someone else who can relate. It's taken me consistent holotropic breath work, psychedelic use, meditation, yoga, journaling and on and off therapy over the years to actually realize that my apathy was just a failure to healthily handle my emotions and integrate my painful experiences. 

[here-now]

I wonder:  is it possible for the Ego (mind-identified self) to not be depressed on some level?

[Jack River]

1 hour ago, here-now said:

I wonder:  is it possible for the Ego (mind-identified self) to not be depressed on some level?

I feel like fear would always be there so so would depression. WhT do you think?

[here-now]

@Jack River I agree. 

[MiracleMan]

18 hours ago, Jack River said:

I feel like fear would always be there so so would depression. WhT do you think?

If you're an individual, then I think it's like a package deal. ?

I'd like to have the ego 'al a carte' and customize, but I think if you had to look it as simply as possible, you got two menu options:

Love - Comes with the peace of God, a side of joy, your choice of ecstasy or bliss, and all of eternity.  Oh, and a choice of side salad or fries.

Fear - Comes with a finite existence, a side of misery, your choice of major depression or schizophrenia, all served on top of certain death, lightly topped with mango salsa and creme fraiche.

?

Edited September 10, 2018 by MiracleMan

[here-now]

@MiracleMan lol well put!

[Leo Gura]

On 9/8/2018 at 6:18 PM, brugluiz said:

I believe many guys here passed through depression and, after the storm, found much better place under the sun.

That does not contradict what I said.

In the end, the devil surrenders to God.

[Misagh]

I was suicidal at one point in my life. I now realize that was the ego wanting to get rid of itself for the self to shine through. 

[Pilgrim]

Depression is incredibly complex and comes in many forms. Repressed emotions seem to play a big factor though. Depressed, your emotions are pressing you down.. it's a sign you have to express them. And like stated before, disconnection plays a big part, too. You are disconnected with yourself and thus as well with others. I fear that we will reach such extreme depression rates in the upcoming years.. it's horrible. But maybe this just shows that we are doing something wrong in our society. The way the modern world is designed is just not really healthy.. and maybe collective depression will be the wake up call.