Alexandra Massey - Beat Depression Fast: 10 Steps to a Happier You Using Positive Psychology

Alexandra Massey

Beat
Depression
Fast

When Alexandra was pole-axed with depression she looked for ways to help herself recover without resorting to prescription drugs. Once fully recovered she began to help others by counselling and working on telephone support lines. In 2004 Alexandra published the first of her many books. She is a passionate champion for those who still suffer.

www.alexandramassey.co.uk

T his is a book for those people who have suffered from depression but havent been able to find the way out. Its for people whove suffered from depression for weeks, months or years as I have. Its written as a guide to a journey that we need to take if we want to beat depression fast and for good.

Some within the medical profession say that depression is simply a result of a chemical imbalance in the brain. However, if, like me, youve taken anti-depressants and not found them to be the answer over the long term, youll know that beating depression is not so simple as popping a pill. I dont deny that anti-depressants may be necessary for some people in certain stages of severe depression. But through my own experiences I have discovered that depression goes way beyond the simplistic description of a chemical imbalance. Depression is an emotional illness which drains life out of the sufferer and its legacy is to leave them feeling helpless, hopeless and defeated. In this book I want to introduce you to the steps you can take to tackle depression when it strikes and protect yourself against its reappearance. I know these steps work because Ive been down this road too.

The new science of Positive Psychology is showing us how to beat depression fast. We no longer need to lie back on the couch, discuss our history and go over and over the past. Our past is only a mental story and spending long periods of time trying to work out what went wrong keeps the story alive. When we keep our story alive it simply increases the depression and our powerlessness because there is nothing we can do about it.

Although we cant change what happened in the past we can transform our lives today with the skills we have right now. Regardless of what happened in the past, we can learn to bring our awareness into the present moment so that struggles, problems, unhappiness and depression dissolve. They can be replaced with a sense of peace and acceptance of what happened in the past. We can use this new Positive Psychology to quickly transform the way we view our past story, use the steps to move us away from a negative life and help us to build a strong future

I had suffered from depression since my childhood, although I didnt recognize it as depression until much later in my life. My mother always told me that Id ruined her life and, as a result, I felt I was the problem child. I spent my childhood trying to be a good girl to make my mother happy but I never discovered what it was I had to do to please her. I grew up thinking there was something wrong with me. I spent my teen years getting into trouble but I was actually trying to run from my pain. By the time I reached my early twenties I was extremely depressed. However, I soon discovered the joy of workaholism and spending the monthly pay check in the sales. Id finally found something that could numb me out so I didnt have to feel the round-theclock awfulness of the dark emotions I was trying to escape from. Of course, the world gives its thumbs up to anyone who works hard so there was no reason to stop. For several years I worked 14-hour days, spent money like it was going out of fashion, travelled the world, shopped in Bond Street, owned property, cars and sponsored a motor racing team! But by the time I turned 30 Id crashed and burned and suffered an emotional breakdown.

For three years I was unable to work, or even function because I was pole-axed with chronic depression. I looked everywhere for help but it wasnt easy to find. All doctors could offer at the time were anti-depressants, but I needed so much more. In the end I joined a self-help group, signed up for meditation classes, started eating more healthily, read lots of books and tried some counselling. However, I spent a lot of time stumbling around without much direction and the things that worked were self-taught. My first book, Beat Depression and Reclaim Your Life, was the result of my own journey. It was a guide to help sufferers through a series of steps that looked at the past and helped them to move out of the depression by challenging old patterns largely seated in childhood.

This book is different because it looks at the ways to beat depression faster by adopting the essence of Positive Psychology. I wish Id known about these techniques when I was suffering because it would have got me back on my feet quicker. These new concepts are interpretations of old ideas but the results of recent studies are bringing them onto the medical radar. For example, one study, published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience in February 2013, reported that mindfulness meditation, an important element of Positive Psychology, can cut the recurrence of depression by 50%. That is an incredible figure, which no pharmaceutical can match. We are seeing the beginning of a radical re-think in the way that depression is managed. Studies such as these are breaking new ground and setting the pace for a much-needed change within the medical world.

Positive Psychology is a whole new approach to emotional well-being that has been initiated in just the last ten years and is quickly gathering pace. Its the scientific study of the strengths and virtues that enable people to thrive as opposed to the study of whats wrong with us. It points towards taking on board what makes us happy rather than trying to figure out all the things that need to be mended. It explains that its not about fixing the problem but rather a matter of understanding and accepting the problem so that our natural resilience and healing helps us to get back to peace and happiness. There are some magnificent writers making waves in this new field like Eckhart Tolle, Robert Holden, Barbara Fredrickson, Martin Seligman and Steven C Hayes. Oxford University has devoted a whole department to studying this new thinking and is spreading the word about mindfulness, transcending thought and raising personal awareness.

The world of psychology has been heavily influenced by Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis. Many modern theories of the human psyche have developed from his work. His theories served as the foundation for a school of psychology that quickly rose to become a dominant force during its early years. His main premise was that our parents had everything to do with the way we view life as adults and that our childhood wasnt just influential, it could dominate our adult selves. Although Freuds theories are highly controversial, they are still also highly influential. Until now, that is. Positive Psychology is challenging that influence and suggesting that it is possible to recover from depression without having to spend months or years on the couch. Freud died in 1939 yet, since then, the rates of depression have increased ten-fold. Dr Martin Seligman, a distinguished experimental psychologist, was quoted in the American Psychological Association journal