Kate Collins-Donnelly - Starving the Depression Gremlin: A Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Workbook on Managing Depression for Young People

STARVING
THE
DEPRESSION
GREMLIN

A COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY WORKBOOK
ON MANAGING DEPRESSION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Kate Collins-Donnelly

Illustrated by Tina Gothard and Kate Collins-Donnelly

Jessica Kingsley Publishers
London and Philadelphia

Contents

About the Author

Hi! Im Kate, and I have worked for many years providing support for children, young people and their families on a range of emotional issues, including depression. Over the years, I have seen the debilitating effects that depression can have. But I have also witnessed the amazing recoveries that can be made by young people who courageously access appropriate avenues of treatment, support and guidance that enable them to put into practice strategies and techniques that work for them.

Hence why I wanted to write Starving the Depression Gremlin a self-help workbook that aims to provide you with a better understanding of depression and how to overcome it through activities! Within its pages, you will find a wide range of tried and tested strategies, tips and tools, as well as stories from other young people to empower and inspire you to starve your Depression Gremlin and move out of the darkness that is depression.

Happy reading and good luck with starving your Depression Gremlin!

Kate

Why Read This
Book?

Please read the following questions and colour in or tick those to which your answer is Yes.

If you have answered Yes to some of these questions, then this workbook is here to help you!

Starving the Depression Gremlin is a self-help workbook that contains information and activities to help you understand what depression is, why it occurs and what you can do to get it under control. It is based on three types of therapy: cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), behavioural activation and mindfulness.

What is CBT?

CBT helps people to deal with a wide range of emotional problems, including depression, by looking at the links between our:

What is Behavioural Activation?

Behavioural activation is based on the idea that what we do affects how we feel. It suggests that by doing more things that we enjoy, value and gain a sense of achievement from, and by reducing how much we act in negative ways, we can help to improve our mood.

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness originates from the spiritual discipline of Buddhism and from meditation and yoga practices. When we practise mindfulness, we make a choice to:

become AWARE of our thoughts in the here and now without being overwhelmed by them, eaten up by them or reacting to them in a negative way

ACCEPT that our thoughts are only thoughts and that they cannot hurt us unless we let them

LET our thoughts GO, just like leaves blowing away in the wind.

In the chapters and activities that follow, you will learn how to apply CBT, behavioural activation and mindfulness ideas and techniques to starve your Depression Gremlin (a pesky creature that you will meet in the next chapter) and help get your depression under control!

How to Use This Workbook

The way to get the most out of Starving the Depression Gremlin is to work through it in its entirety. But if you want to make a quick start, please feel free to just focus on the parts that you feel are most relevant to you and your depression. And dont forget that you can always return to the other sections of the workbook in the future.

Dont worry if it all feels too hard, too much, too overwhelming or too scary at first. That is a normal way to feel when you are depressed. Some people believe that they deserve to be depressed or that they will never get better or that they are a failure for having depression. But these are not true. Others blame themselves, worry about what other people will think of them, feel embarrassed or think they are weak for not being able to cope. All these thoughts and feelings can make it hard to find the motivation to make changes, but again, none of them are true.

Depression is a very real and understandable condition, and recovery isnt just a case of pulling your socks up! despite what some people may say! But we all can break the cycle of depression if we are taught how and if we remind ourselves about why we want to get better and the benefits it will bring. With the help of this workbook, you can learn how to make gradual changes to how you think and act so that improvements to your mood can be made!

Other Support Options

Exploring your depression may raise difficult issues for you. If so, please consider talking to someone you trust about these issues, such as a parent, relative, friend, teacher or mental health professional.

Please also remember that while this workbook will give you a good insight into your own depression and a vast array of information on what can help to manage it, it can still be extremely beneficial to speak to a professional, such as your GP or a psychologist, psychiatrist, counsellor or therapist, for a diagnosis and a discussion about other possible treatment options.

For some young people, if their depression is mild, this workbook may be the only help they will need. However, sometimes self-help tools alone are not enough to help a person suffering from depression make all the progress that they need to. Examples include when an individual is experiencing severe depression, or when their depression is accompanied by other mental health disorders, such as an eating disorder, or negative coping strategies like substance abuse or self-harming. In such cases, it is important to speak to your GP or psychiatrist about whether medication is appropriate and/or to seek treatment from a mental health professional. If this is the case, this workbook is suitable to be used alongside professional support.

Also, some people experiencing depression can have what we call suicidal thoughts. These are thoughts about ending your life, such as thinking life is so hopeless you dont want to continue living or thinking that others would be better off if you were dead. If you have thoughts about ending your life, it is vital that you get help straight away to keep you safe. If you have suicidal thoughts, turn to now, as it looks at the types of people you can speak to for help and other ways you can keep yourself safe.

So, now that you have learnt about this workbooks purpose and basis and who it is suitable for, lets get started on starving your Depression Gremlin and overcoming your depression!