Sometimes it doesn't seem as if there is a way out of the everyday grind and the setbacks that are thrown on our path. It seems that we spend our time responding to emergencies and that we are not really getting anywhere. We seem to be spending our time and all our energy just to stay afloat in life and our goals and dreams seem to melt away or are moved into the too hard basket. This article looks at the problem of life getting out of control and how the events of life and the way we respond to then can get you down. It's about the cycle of depression.



Alice is an example of someone whose life events and the way she responded to these events caused her to enter the cycle of depression. Alice was a hard working caring nurse who worked on a busy ward at a regional hospital. She was well qualified and often took on the responsibility of team leader for her shift. Although the ward was frequently busy she often found herself getting bored with the routine nature of much of the work that she had to do. She also found the petty ?politics? of the ward and the hospital stressful ? she just wanted to do a good job and go home. However, she often found herself drawn into ?battles? between staff members who wanted a promotion position or change to the way things were run on the ward. These encounters made her feel inadequate and stressed. She didn't know how to handle the situation and the tension between staff on the ward made going to work difficult for her. Alice started to take sick leave ? which made her feel guilty about leaving her patients and colleagues in the lurch.

At home Alice was always tired and never felt like doing anything ? she was overeating and watched TV. Over time she was beginning to feel that she was no good at her job, that she was a slob around the house and had no social life. She felt guilty and depressed about all areas of her life. Her boyfriend of two years left her saying he ?couldn't take her moodiness any more?. She believed that he was too good for her anyway and that it was a wonder that he stayed with her for as long as he did. This made her feel even more depressed.

What do you think of Alice's situation? Is she unlucky or is there anything that she could have done to prevent any of this? More importantly what can Alice do now to break the cycle of depression and turn things around?

Alice needs to do something or the chances are that she will continue the cycle into further depression. Let's look at Alice's situation again.

What are the beliefs that Alice has about herself?

?Feels inadequate at handling stressful work staff situations

?She is responsible for leaving her patients and staff in the lurch

?She was no good at her job

?She was a slob who didn't deserve a friends

Added to these are feeling bored with her work, social isolation from friends and withdrawal into her home on sick leave.

If you are feeling depressed does any of this sound familiar? Do you believe that:

?everything you do goes wrong?

?you are only invited to dinner because the other person felt obliged to include you?

?nothing changes ? so what's the point in trying?

?you only got the job because they were desperate for staff?

These negative beliefs are a part of the depression cycle and adding to them are unhelpful behaviours such as:

?overeating ? in particular sweet foods like biscuits and chocolate

?drinking alcohol

?lying around watching TV and not doing anything constructive

?withdrawing from social contact

?gambling or using shopping to make yourself feel better

Because you are feeling dreadful the chances are that you are trying to make yourself feel numb with these unhelpful behaviours. However in the long run they will only make matters worse and add to the feelings of guilt and depression ? thus keeping the depression cycle going. You need to do things differently so that you are not adding to the cycle.

What could Alice do to change her situation for the better?

The answer to this is that there are many things that she could do ? both in the short term and the longer term. One way of overcoming depression is to undertake a program, work through issues and develop a plan. Tackling your fears, working out goals and engaging in behaviours that are helpful are important parts of overcoming depression.

This article explored how one person allowed the problems of life to get out of control and how the events of life and the way she responded to then can got her down. She was in a cycle of depression. If you are in a cycle of depression then join the depression program offered by Growerz.com so that you can get on the right track again and enjoy life. Take a tour to discover the approach they have to supporting you to break your cycle of depression.