Revisiting guilt, shame, and fear

[JackOfHearts]

Yeah I can see where you're coming from in regards to that comic. I'm not sure if you notice too many positive effects from these subs but what really helped me was to let go of my current mindstate and thinking try to completely flip it around. Go against what you think is right and just have the program do it's thing. Lose all self serving thoughts and just allow your mind to be open. This is just temporary. You might feel like you've lost yourself or feel exposed for a few minutes but I guarantee it helps with any resistance you might have and you can feel the comfort in knowing that the program is helping you in all areas of your life.

Thanks

Fonzy

I definitely notice positive effects, so I'm thankful for that. That's usually the approach I try to take. It can be difficult though when I get stuck, these days I try to stay out of my head as much as possible. I realized letting go and trying to let go are two completely separate things.

If I were you, I'd read the comments for that comic.

Seems like a LOT of people see the comic the same way you do.

Here's a secret: EVERYONE is f*cking depressed, ALL the time. I recently realized that it's always the people who act like their life is the greatest who you find out are miserable bastards, while people like me, are just miserable all the time. Heck, I feel like I'm 2 steps away from suicide most days. But if you can DWELL on that feeling, really accept it, there's an amazing power.
The strength to be weak.

You're not flawed, you're human.

Well I think it's more likely that depressed individuals looked for the comic and that's what I'm seeing in the comments. There are a lot of depressed individuals, but it's not everyone. And then there's depressed and clinical depression, people tend to mix those up.

I don't know about dwelling on the feeling. That's actually been something I've had to train out of myself. If by acceptance you mean acknowledging it's there and to just keep moving forward, I agree with you.

You might be interested in this documentary. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1613092/

They say 50% of your happiness is genetic. I know it's hard to imagine but some people really are happy, for no reason whatsoever. The idea that EVERYONE is depressed is a huge generalization. I used to think like you. But I was experiencing a lot of cognitive dissonance. It was easier for me to believe that everyone was miserable than accept the fact that some people really aren't. That's hard to come to terms with, especially if you've lived most of your life with depression. And on top of that if you are depressed your interpretation of events are very skewed and you may project onto other people. You may see more misery than there actually is.

It's a comforting thought knowing other people are miserable, but it's not true. Misery loves company.

Absolutely enjoyed reading your journals, my thought processing is similar in a way and even if I'm not in a perfect place right now I can tell you one thing. Don't believe everything that people say, if someone says something that a huge population follows doesn't make it any more true.

There are people that are not depressed and you can overcome depression. I haven't read Shannon's full story but he had been depressed for a long time and now he seems to be doing rather well. I have overcome depression in a house full of depressed people and although I have somewhat fallen down back to that hole I know for certain that I can get out of it.

When people sell me some sort of their version of the life's truth I do consider it and take what I can, but thank god I stopped taking it so literally all the time. You said you have tried getting out of the depression multiple times but somehow came back to some problems consistently, maybe you never had the right tools, maybe that or that or that. What you believe is your freedom of choice, just choose the beliefs that help you keep your faith in yourself and your growth.

Thanks. That's definitely a life lesson I've learned over the years, I think that comes with self confidence and realizing my opinions are just as valid as anyone else

My long term goal is to beat depression, but I've also accepted that might not be a possibility. As long as I can manage it and pursue the things I want in life I'll be ok.

Yeah. I just recently got on anti-depressants, which have always been my last resort. But I've read they have really turned some people's lives around. And I figured it's about time to try something different. Worst case scenario if I don't like how they make me feel and I ween myself off of them. But I've got to at least try.

I used to think like that too. Like there were no happiness in this world and only fake happiness. I had a screwed belief system.
The problem is that until with experience happiness we are so jealous that we prefer to say people are faking it. And we can't relate to this happiness so we think it doesn't exist.

Have you tried "the happiness and joy" sub Mat. I don't see a lot of people talking about this one. But it seems to be a very good one by his Title.